Originally Posted by
Perche
Only produce.
Got it!
Surely, there must be restaurants sourcing quality meat though. It's not like Venice is that divorced from the rest of Italy, right? As far as I know, there are no actual domestic cattle farms, slaughter houses or meat processing facilities in SF proper. Most of the beef presumably comes from either Marin County or the Central Valley. While I understand why travelers would want to focus on seafood in Venice (makes the most sense as it's local and culturally intrinsic) it shouldn't be that difficult to get quality meats shipped in. Most steakhouses in America import beef from the Midwest. Some of the best A5-grade wagyu beef in Japan is specific to certain regions, like the Miyazaki or Hyogo prefecture, yet can easily be found in restaurants throughout the country; in the same way that you could surely get outstanding Parma in most regions throughout Italy. Of course, I wouldn't expect any restaurant
not catering to local residents to provide quality meats anymore than they would source fresh quality seafood. In other words, while I would prioritize eating as much local seafood as possible while in Venice and expect to see it the focus of most daily menus, a good restaurant that wishes to do so, should be able to serve quality fish or meat in Venice at an equal level. That said, I doubt if Assassini is concerned with sourcing top-grade meats. It sounds like more of a rustic kitchen with proletariat home-style comfort foods; ie. braised rabbit, boiled meats and soups. The kind of hearty winter fare that you might expect to find in homes more than restaurants in Venice. Doesn't La Bitta also focus on meats? I recall reading that they don't even serve seafood at all.