LapLap

Just had a surprise bonus trip to Venice, a taster really before I return with my daughter next month.

Had a wonderful dinner at Nevodi on Via Giuseppe Garibaldi on the far side of Venice, towards Lido.

The risotto required two people order it and was based on Langostinos. This was both rich and refreshing, my ideal balance of lemon (more subtle than assertive) and savoury seafood. Just a joy to rediscover the tastes and textures with each mouthful. Loved it.


We also had squid with a beetroot sauce and vegetables. Squid tends to reward you if you develop a relationship with it in your mouth and don’t swallow it down too quickly. Not because you need to keep chewing it because it is tough (and this certainly wasn’t) but because it releases more and more of its flavours. Often you get more sweetness by persevering, but this just delivered more and more umami qualities. And all the vegetables were good too, the potatoes were absolutely on point.


The beef cheeks with polenta were excellent.




Was glad my companion and me are intimate enough so that I got to eat both. The squid did win on glamour.

They also made the best Spritz type drink I’ve had - I generally ask for the one made with Cynar, which I prefer to Select or Aperol, and they really nailed it here.

As this was a last minute opportunity I had no chance to reserve at Nevodi. We turned up just before they opened, asked and got lucky. Quite a few were turned away later on.

I enjoyed everything I ate in Venice this weekend, looking forward to returning.

marcopizzaiuolo

Cynar… brought back memories, although it was served as after dinner “amaro” in the 1970/80 and very much fell out of favour, I have just checked and apparently Csmpari group has managed to re-launched as a modern liquor to be used in cocktails and spritz… OMG, not one to usually wanting to challenge personal taste, but I do not see a spritz made of this as I do not see the one made with Limoncello

LapLap

Being part Spanish, Cynar is something I remembered from the 70s and 80s, the choice for older men in boinas who weren’t into aniseed. Thankfully it stayed in Spanish bars and as an adult I became appreciative of the way it, ahem, elevates certain scents and flavours once you take a sip or two. There’s good reason why it is considered an aphrodisiac.

I hadn’t had it with sparkling wine until comparatively recently, but, my goodness it works. The first Spritz I ever had in Venice was made with Aperol, but my tastes matured and I started to find it too sweet, Select is nice but rather “floral”, Cynar hits it for me, doubly so if I am with someone, it delivers a subtle enhancement but one I very much appreciate.

And, no, to put Cynar into the same sentence as Limoncello… Just no.

ETA - just did a bit of a deep dive using Italian sites and resources. I’m more confused than before about why a notable “Amaro” would be compared to a non bitters drink such as Limoncello. Oh well, de gustibus non est disputandum.

What really tickled my interest was discovering that Cynar was “beta tested” in two bars before it was commercially launched in the early 1950s. One of those bars was in Padua, the other in Venice with the originators inventing it in Padua in the 1940s. It truly has a Veneto provenance.

This blog article from 2012 lists the Cynar Spritz as being a variant found in Padua.
https://cantinalacosta.wordpress.com/tag/cynar/

marcopizzaiuolo

the only reason I have mentioned this is that both looks to be offered as options to make “alternative” spritz, and for both I would say “stick to the Aperol or to improve it, maybe Campari…

The Limoncello Spritz has been marketed as a trendy option by a pizza Chain, and customers in London looks to be expecting as a standard, but thank God some proper establishment won’t bend to those requests (I was in my favourite pizzeria months ago when a girl asked for a Limoncello spritz and the waiter told her that they wouldn’t do that but only the “proper” one &#128527

LapLap

Sorry, but you messed up in your assumption that it is a newly fangled “alternative”. If you’ve decided that a Spritz must glow like a sunset, then sure. I’m just happy that more and more people are acquiring a taste for Cynar’s charms.

marcopizzaiuolo

I have not messed up, Spritz is a spritz, and the traditional alternative bitters of Italian bars are Campari and Aperol, so although it was "created" with Aperol, it makes sense to use Campari as an alternative' Everything else that is coming up recently to ride the bandwagon of the "Spritz" trend, is being offered as a Trendy Alternative..

Cynar (Artichoke amaro), VOV (Zabaglione Liquor) and Stock 84 (Italian Brandy) would be what you would still find in old people living room cabinet if you tour Italy, together with badly stored bottles of Champagne (highest percentage of LR Cristal bottles hitting the secondary auctions market are of Italian origin, mostly cooked though).

13901

I polled my friends from Veneto and the unanimous verdict was that the only other alternative to Campari or Aperol in a Spritz is Select.

Having said that, I do love a good old Cynar - much in the same way as I like Fernet Branca. My old aunts loved a good Cynar, and while downroute in Sao Paulo I found a bottle in a bar and basically purchased it off the shelf for personal use, though a couple of my other drinking companions decided to try it and loved it. But though Fernet can be drank in a cocktail (Branca and chinotto, or coke, or the great BrancaMilano) I've always drank Cynar alone, at best on the rocks.

LapLap

Spoke to a couple of Venetian bar tenders (both of whom spoke in Veneto with their clients). I said I was surprised to find Cynar offered as a Spritz variant on so many bar and restaurant menus lately* didn’t recall seeing it a decade ago and asked when Cynar became an alternative, They agreed that Select is the representative Spritz for Venice, but both made a point of saying that people within Venice itself have been drinking Cynar in the Spritz style “since forever” in the meaning of as long as can be remembered.

If you have a taste for Chinotto soda, you’re half way to appreciating Cynar as a Spritz.

*particularly around Via Garibaldi/Castello area, didn’t notice it much, if at all, along any of the main tourist routes.

LapLap

As it’s Easter, my daughter is with us for this visit so a great excuse to return to Nevodi. She LOVED it. Have never seen her appetite open to such an extent, she said it was the most enjoyable meal she’s ever had. We’ve promised to bring her back along with her friend when we visit again in Autumn. She’s already excited about the seasonal variants that will become available.

Great part about eating as a family is that you get to taste everything.


Tomato from Sant Erasmus and Fior Di Latte. Just yes.

Chef’s choice local vegetables - and the beginning of my kid’s infatuation with this restaurant

Tuna Tartare, vaguely citrus seasoning gave it the Nevodi caress


Ravioli al fungi with roasted ricotta shavings - daughter’s choice for a shared “primi” - lovely flavours and textures, the buttery sauce was superb, I’ll be thinking about how it was done for months.

Never had octopus like this before, not just tender, but creamy.

Ibérico pork, beautifully cooked, the defining touch is in those portions of intense sauce.

We ordered the same squid dish shown in my previous post for the kid as we knew she’d like it. She adored it.

Dessert too.

——
And if you make it to Burano, there is Gelateria Crema.

Outstanding.

marcopizzaiuolo

The real Venetian Spritz is supposed to be the one made with select, whilst the version that evolved towards Padova, is supposed to be made with Aperol. Not sure how much confidence I would have in any barman historic information unless coming from a particular location (e.g. Locali Storici, an association of bars, restaurants and the likes over 100 years old) where working there means that they have to be informed about the history and traditions of the place and particular products offered.

Anyway, you obviously like this version, and whilst i still believe to be a fairly modern faff, I am sure you and others will continue drinking it, so a pointless discussion, and whilst I love my Chinotto and generally have a like for many bitter food and drinks (part of the traditional food and drink I grow up with), i am not tempted at all to try a Cynar Spritz

LapLap

I’ve taken the opportunity to learn what a Spritz is and here is another take by someone who grew up in Padova which fits in with what I’ve come to know.

ckendall

A bit of history here that puts Cynar in context (commercialized after WWII but based on a pre-existing product and part of Spritzes for probably 50+ years)

LapLap

What a wonderful article! We had parallels in Spain where Franco’s administration put sanctions on cultural imports (it was hard to prohibit Beatles songs outright so the versions on Spanish radio were translated) so I understand the suspicion given to Select’s, ahem, “foreign” name. I wonder if we’ll ever know for sure if Stabilimento Enologico Liquori E Cremore Tartaro was legit or a creative conjuration.
I’d love to see what those old handmade glasses that came in the SELECT Gift Box looked like, what a treasure that must have been.

ETA - I’ll just drop this version from Alessandro Marzo Magno https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Marzo_Magno without comment:
https://www.ilgazzettino.it/nordest/...o-3830020.html

marcopizzaiuolo

I can happily concede that this noblewoman had offered recipes for spritz calling out any amaro or bitters, some time ago, but calling 1979 (particularly attached to this year) or earlier a minimum of 50+ years, I cannot accept, it is exactly 44+ years.

ckendall

Her book was published in 1979; having modest experience in publishing in Italy, I cannot believe that the book was not written some time before 1979.