I woke up at 04:30 on Monday morning, the excitement of the day was probably flying around my head, beckoning me to get up and start exploring, I took a brief look out the window and went back to bed!
The daily routine repeated itself until departure, Venice is just a wonderful place to explore so I was determined to get as much out of my few days as possible, after putting so much time into planning things. A knock at the door just after 08:00, ‘buongiorno’, breakfast had arrived, perfecto. Fresh Croissant, various bread and conserves, ham and cheese and a Latte, it did the job, I was not in Venice for a ‘fry-up’!
The 1st day was going to be a real test, had my planning process worked, the timings, route etc. Test one was getting a weeks Vaporetto ticket at the local water bus stop, again, there were so many recommendations and comments on social media, I ignored them all, went up to the ticket machine, selected English, 7 Days, inserted the credit card, PIN code, and boom, le ticket arrivé, simples, next stop The Penny Guggenheim Collection for some arty education.
As well as a host of well known names such as Salvador Dali, Henri Laurens, Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso, a special exhibition was being presented, dedicated to Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau a french poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost artists of the surrealist, avant-garde, and Dadaist movements and an influential figure in early 20th century art, and a drug addict! The largest picture in the above gallery is one of his, as is the ‘interesting’ one below, Violinist, Study for a Poster for the Menton Music Festival circa 1920.
There is a lovely view of the Venice Prefect building ‘canal side’, and a delightful cafe selling homemade delights and serving coffee and tea, oh well, when in Venice.
Much of his work ‘didn’t do it for me’, but there were a few that seemed to be a route into his mind, probably during a drug ‘high’ in some cases, nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed Penny’s collection and Jean Cocteau was definitely interesting, it’s really worth a visit if you are in Venice, I got a copy of the 257 page guide with the complete collection with pictures, as many are not on display.
During my research I had read a little about the famous Venetian ‘rowing boat’, the Gondoler. These magnificent craft are built by hand, without plans, from memory in a A Squero, a factory dedicated to their production and I was trying to arrange a visit, unfortunately they were so busy, they did not have time to allow a tour but I still made for Squero Di San Trovaso, an iconic location, and cicchetti stop, I was peckish! There is another Squero to the north of the city where you can also arrange a visit, but I found out too late, it’s more of a museum and restoration project though.
Continuing to plan, a trip to one of two Leonardo de Vinci exhibitions, via the Ponte dei Pugni, the ‘Bridge of Fists’ where disputes were settled by a ‘punch up’, I noticed at least three towers in Venice that had varying degrees of lean, fingers crossed they will be sorted before they lean to far and collapse!
Banksy has been to Venice, and managed to paint ‘The Migrant Child’ dated 2019, it’s going to be restored thanks to Italy’s culture ministry, its certainly a tourist stop for those in the know, located at ‘shhhh”, explore and find it yourself, it’s really very poignant.
It was time for a quick pit stop before the next visit, Botegga del Caffé Dersut was right next to the Basilica Di Santa Maria Gloriosadei Frari and serves delicious cannoli and the most refreshing iced ‘shakerto’, chilled coffee in my case infused with cardamom, delicious.
The Basilica was amazing, and almost completely empty which had been the theme throughout the day, I don’t do crowds, my better half has suspected I might be slightly ADHD and possibly OCD for many years, in more recent times I just prefer space and try to avoid confined areas and places that are crowded, luckily, so far, the day had been almost dreamy. Another guide to add to the collection and descriptions of the magnificent paintings, carvings and architecture, a stunning place to visit.
The last stop of the day was just brilliant, and certainly a ‘must do’ if you have even the slightest interest in the history of cartoons, cinema and the wonderment of the huge numbers of characters that have been created over the years, from Popeye to Pinocchio, Laurel and Hardy to Mork and Mindy the Venice Vintage Toys Museum contains over 5000 pieces, so many extremely rare, curated by the passionate Fabrizio Fontanella, what a place to finish the days touring.
I spent ages looking through the various cabinets and displays, being taken back to my childhood, black and white memories morphing into colour as technology developed, a few particularly caught my eye but one grabbed my attention.
My first ever international blog post was way back in June 2013, I had just come back from Masseria Montenapoleone in Puglia, southern Italy on my first week long cookery school. I was taught to cook real Italian food by the most amazing ‘nona’, she was just brilliant. In the picture I am making the original Tiramisu with the ‘proper’ biscuits. Now try and find them in the pictures above, the Tiramisu was perfect!
The day had been brilliant, the planning worked, timings were good and the Toy Museum had been an unexpected surprise taking me back to my first trip to Italy, to an amazing cookery school. Thank-you Fabrizio for taking the time to talk me through the exhibits, and removing some foodie ones for a photograph or two.
As I made my way back to the hotel, I notice another 80 degree tower!, I was convinced it had a slight lean. After a relax, refresh and change of clothes I was off to dinner at an iconic restaurant, featured in the film starring Jonnie Depp and Angelina Jolie, ‘The Tourist’, The Hotel Danieli. Unfortunately, it was too windy to eat on the terrace, but the dining room was opulent and views very pleasant looking out to the lagoon.
Impeccable service was obvious from the moment I arrived to the time I left, it would have been rude not to try a Bellini before starting the tasting menu and wine flight, which proved to be a delicious experience from start to finish.
Freshly made bread was really good, the Baccalà Mantecato delicate but flavourful, the Rissoto I felt could have done with another minute in the pan, it had a slight chalkiness to the texture, but it still tasted damn good, the Saffron Cod was a delight, the Panna Cotta perfectly wobbly and not rubbery or firm.
Day one had been a complete success, yes I was a tad tired (being polite here), I felt overwhelmed by the days adventure and walking back towards the hotel I noticed ‘that’ leaning tower in the night sky, tell me it’s not leaning slightly, maybe even more than slightly.
……………………. Until Next Time ………………. L8ers …………………..
New York has strong ties to Italy (amongst other countries) and that was very evident from some of the restaurants we ate in, although one of the stand out dishes came from 
The menu seemed endless, Hot Endamame, Chefs’ Sushi, Chicken Gyozas, Pan Roasted Halibut, Dry Aged Sirloin and Broccoli Drunken Vegetable Pad Thai the flow of food just didn’t seem to stop. It was all beautifully presented and very tasty indeed. The restaurant was huge, and floor walkers with radio communications kept in contact with the Chef’s to ensure the food was cooked at the right time and that no table was left waiting for the next course.
All the food was good but one dish was just amazing, the ‘Satay of Chilean Sea Bass with Miso Dressing’. It does not look much but the texture and flavour was sublime, perfectly cooked fish (to the point as Rick Stein might say), it was silky, moist and packed with flavour, my favourite of the whole evening and in the top three of the trip.
The following night we were at 
This was Saturday evening and I had spent the day eating on the Brooklyn Culture and Food Tour, the location of 
Cecconi’s was a typical Italian restaurant, homely, cosy and carb heavy with Risotto and Gnocchetti but luckily there was Chicken on the menu so I was sorted, the starters included Calamari Fritti with Lemon Aioli and Chilli which was very tasty.
Now onto 
I went for the Veal Scaloppini for mains, it was very tasty but I think the Veal could have been cooked less, it was a bit to over for my liking but still nice.
The stand out dish was definitely the Capellini with Peas and Prosciutto, it was amazing, absolutely stunning and the picture is the featured image of this post, you have to visit just for this dish, its that good.
I did gain a few ounces over the 4 or so days and had the chance to taste some great food. New York is mad, manic and full-on, but you do slowly get used to it, the range of cuisine is enormous and you can get fed for not a lot if you know where to look.
I was sitting in Cafe Lucca in Bath and my heart was pumping for a couple of reasons, I had just walked up the hill from the station which is something not attempted before, and I was going to be spending a day learning from a food hero Angela Hartnett MBE, who also happens to have a Michelin Star, no mean feat!
It was a really tasty plateful, Pancetta, Boiled Eggs that had been coated in Parmesan and stuck under the grill, Roasted Tomatoes, Toast and Marmalade with a pot of Assam Tea, it was all very tasty.
So the menu for the day included Pumpkin Tortelli, Partridge with Turnip and Mushrooms and Plums with Ricotta, seasonal dishes that as we found out, would require a lot of skill and technique to prepare, no ready made Pasta, that was to be done by hand along with preparing the Partridges, they were whole, Heads, Wings and Guts!!
Angela is an absolute delight, taking the 12 of us students through the process of making the pasta by hand, understanding the look and feel once it was ready to roll, cut and shape as required, imparting lots of tips on the way it was great fun. We were grouped into fours and encouraged to interact our group starting chatting away sharing experiences as we went on.
I have made Pasta by hand before in Italy, but it was over four years ago (sorry, my food experiences have meant that I am never trying a particular country or region for that long)! It was a really good session, I had never used a Pasta Machine before similar to others in the group so it was interesting to see the difference not having enough Flour in the mix made, it was slightly too wet and produced interesting results when put through the Pasta machine.
I’d never heard of Tortelli before, they are like a rectangular Raviolli, where you place the stuffing close to the edge nearest you, flip over, egg or milk wash the front and sides, and in between the covered filling and flip over the other side like a blanket, mine were by no means perfect but the looked ok once finished.
Before preparing the Pasta, we had quartered a Pumpkin, seasoned and placed on oiled baking trays for a session in the oven to soften. Angela encouraged us to answer questions and shared many of the experiences working with the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Marcus Wareing which was really interesting and very amusing indeed !!
I LOVE Partridge, in fact our 11 year old son loves Partridge too, and cooks it himself when available (with parental assistance of course). We were each given one to prep after being shown how to do it by Angela, removing the legs in the right place, (you can go further down the joint towards the body which makes for an unstable cooking experience as it wobbles in the pan)!
We were prepping and cooking for several hours, it was hard work but really good fun. One of the students had come all the way from Norway to attend the 1 day course, she owned a Bakery and had been to the school before to learn advanced bread making techniques which the owner Richard Bertinet is a master at, this is an awesome cookery school and Richard attracts some seriously good chefs to come along and share their knowledge and experience.
We worked tirelessly from about 10:00 till 12:30, then a break for refreshments, and a quick snack of Cheese and Ham Toasties with Bechamel using Richards famous Bread, they were very tasty indeed. The ‘Baker Girls’ or Bertinet Backstage are the great team that assist, wash up, clean and generally help things go smoothly and as usual, they did an exceptional job.
Earlier, we had removed the legs from the Partridge ready for a bath in Duck Fat, Garlic and Thyme, we were going to confit the legs and add to a Salad with Pickled Walnuts. Before the ‘Duck Fat Bath’, the legs were fried in Olive Oil to colour, there was lots going on during the course, loads of different cooking techniques were learnt on the way it was excellent value for money and everyone was sweating in the heat of the kitchen.
The Partridge Crowns got the Pan treatment, in LOADS of Butter and Thyme, a few minutes before hitting the oven for finishing off.
Angela was more than happy for us to video, take pictures, selfies and was a real joy to spend time with, her knowledge and experience is just something you don’t often get the chance to access, I need to practise my photography from a selfie perspective although we were right by the hob, and everything was hot in the kitchen.
Where to go to celebrate my Birthday? It took less than 10 seconds to reach a decision and a booking at the local Michelin starred restaurant, ‘The WoodSpeen’ was completed online. I’ve eaten here before with a good friend, but only for lunch and we had their lunchtime special which was very good, this time it was to be the ‘Full Monty’ a la carte.
Sat at our table an Amuse Bouche arrived, Courgette Soup with Black Olive. I am not sure about Courgettes, I eat them a lot but they tend to be part of a dish and not going solo, the soup was really very tasty, quite a surprise but a good one. We had been given some lovely home made bread and polished off the dish before more bread arrived, very good attentive service.
For starters I opted for the Roasted Scallops, with Chicken Thigh, Cauliflower and Hazelnut, OMG it was so very tasty. The Scallop was perfectly cooked, the Chicken tender as it could be and really rich the whole dish just sung ‘eat me’.
My partner in crime opted for the Woodspeen Smoked Salmon, Beetroot, Goats Curd and Apple which was apparently delicious and was demolished quite effortlessly, with a big smile of satisfaction to finish.
We were then surprised with another Amuse Bouche, Buratta with Heritage Tomatoes and Olive Crumb, another exceptional taste bomb that really cleansed the taste buds, this was going really very well indeed.
I adore fish and the Bass did not disappoint, with Clams, Squid Ink Gnocchi, Fennel and Champagne Sauce. Everything was cooked perfectly and the Champagne Sauce is THE best I have ever had, seriously tasty and moorish, I could have drunk it out of a cup it was that tasty.
Steak was the choice for Mrs R, with Garlic Mushrooms, Onion Ring, Triple Cooked Chips and Bearnaise. We usually find steaks are ‘OK’, either the meat is not the best or the cooking is not quite right, this was spot on perfect, and the chips, oh my we thought we had found the best chips locally and they are very good, but these WERE the best, praise indeed.
It was my birthday so I WAS having a dessert, the Pina Colada sounded really nice. Coconut Parfait, Macadamia Crumble, Pineapple and Lemongrass Sorbet. I was in heaven, it was yum yum yum the tastes and textures dancing around on the tongue it was a perfect end to a perfect meal.
Once the Pancetta has crisped up, add the Onion and cook slowly for about 5 minutes , you want just a bit of colour as in the picture above, before you add the carrot continuing to cook on a medium heat.
Julian Rolfe 