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Venice: Food Tasting Tour with Cicchetti and Wine
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History
Cicchetti and the bacaro tradition emerged in Venice in the late Middle Ages, when the city's working-class taverns served small plates to dock workers who could not afford a full sit-down meal. The format codified through the 19th and early 20th centuries: a small glass of cheap wine (an ombra, from the medieval Venetian dialect for shadow) plus a few cicchetti. Cantina Do Mori (operating since 1462, the oldest continuously running bacaro in Venice), Osteria All'Arco and Bacareto Da Lele all serve the canonical format.
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Common allergens: Gluten, Fish, Dairy, Egg
Make it at home
Ingredients
- For the bread base: 1 long French baguette, sliced into 24 thin 1cm rounds, lightly toasted (or use grilled polenta squares)
- Variety 1 - Baccala Mantecato: 250g cooked salt cod (soaked 36 hours)
- 100ml olive oil whipped in
- 1 garlic clove (finely grated)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- salt and white pepper (4 small mounds on bread or polenta)
- Variety 2 - Sarde in Saor mini: 4 oil-packed marinated sardines (or fresh fillets fried briefly and dressed with sweet-sour onion-vinegar-pine nut-raisin saor sauce; see Venice sarde-in-saor recipe in this guide for the full recipe; mini portions)
- Variety 3 - Mortadella with Truffle Cream: 4 thin slices Italian mortadella (rolled into rose shapes) on lightly toasted bread, topped with a small dollop of black truffle cream
- Variety 4 - Polpette al Sugo: 4 small (3cm) meatballs (250g minced beef plus 50g breadcrumbs, 1 egg yolk, 30g grated parmesan, salt, nutmeg, formed and pan-fried) in a simple tomato sauce (200g passata simmered with garlic and basil)
- Variety 5 - Crostino con Acciuga: 4 slices toasted bread topped with a soft-boiled egg slice
- a halved anchovy fillet
- a parsley leaf and a drop of olive oil
- Variety 6 - Crostino con Burrata e Pomodoro: 4 slices toasted bread topped with a spoonful of burrata, a halved cherry tomato (dressed in olive oil and salt), and a leaf of fresh basil
- Toothpicks for the cicchetti that need to be skewered
- Maldon sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, fresh herbs for garnish
Method
- Prepare the baccala mantecato in advance: see the dedicated baccala-mantecato recipe in this guide; reserve 200g of finished baccala for the cicchetti.
- Toast or grill the bread slices on a hot griddle pan for 90 seconds per side until pale gold; if using polenta, cut a chilled set polenta into 6cm by 4cm rectangles and grill 3 minutes per side until char-marked.
- Make the polpette: combine the minced beef, breadcrumbs, egg yolk, parmesan, a generous pinch of salt and a small grating of nutmeg. Roll into 12 tiny balls (about 3cm each); pan-fry in 2 tbsp olive oil for 6 minutes turning often until golden through.
- Heat 200g passata in a small pan with 1 garlic clove, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 4 basil leaves for 8 minutes; tip in the cooked meatballs and gently coat.
- Assemble each cicchetti variety on its toast or polenta base in groups of 4: baccala mounds, sardines, mortadella rosettes with truffle cream, meatballs (one per skewered crostino), egg-and-anchovy crostini, burrata-tomato crostini.
- Skewer each tiny meatball through a slice of toasted bread with a toothpick.
- Arrange all 24 cicchetti on a long platter, alternating varieties for visual contrast.
- Pour a small glass (about 80ml) of white Soave or sparkling Prosecco per person, which is the canonical ombra.
- Eat standing if possible, taking one or two cicchetti per ombra, then ordering another. Serve immediately; the bread should still be slightly warm and the toppings at room temperature.
Tip from the editors. Quality is everything; each cicchetto must be tiny and perfect rather than large and bland. Use real Italian-imported ingredients: San Marzano tomatoes, real mortadella from Bologna, hand-skinned salt cod for the baccala. The structural rule is variety: at least 4 different cicchetti per platter.
Where to eat cicchetti
Cicchetti in Venice
Cantina Do Mori ★ 4.6
Cantina Do Mori in Venice's San Polo near Rialto is the 1462-founded bacaro, with francobolli sandwiches at €1.50 to €3, the cheapest historic-bar meal.
TryFrancobolli sandwiches and ombre
TipCash only. Walk-in. Closed Sundays. The francobolli (postage-stamp-sized sandwiches) are the move; pair with ombre at €1.50.
Osteria All'Arco ★ 4.8
Osteria All'Arco near Rialto in San Polo serves cicchetti at €1.50 to €4 each, the canonical bacari budget meal with francobolli sandwiches and lagoon-fish.
TryCicchetti at the bar
TipSix cicchetti plus two ombre runs roughly €20 to 25 for a full meal. Closes after lunch.
Bacareto Da Lele ★ 4.6
Bacareto Da Lele on Campo dei Tolentini in Venice's Santa Croce is the canonical budget bacaro, with €1 panini and €0.80 ombre served from a window.
TryPanini and ombra
TipCash only. Walk-up window; sit on the Tolentini church steps with your panino and ombra. Closed Sundays.
More cities are in research. Want cicchetti covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.