Customer Reviews

Chow Venice: Savoring the Food and Wine of La Serenissima

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Venice is known as a feast for the eyes but not for the belly--that is, it's known as a town where you can't expect to dine very well. Ordinary is what you'll get at best, and sub-par more often. Well, that's partly true, even largely true for the hapless, unarmed tourist. And Venice is quintessentially a tourist town. Live with it.

Or don't, because there are plenty of good places where Venetians eat, and they are well worth discovering. Fortunately for you, Shannon Essa and Ruth Edenbaum have done that already, and they have published their secrets. In this tiny book they give extensive details on 40 restaurants and 40 bars ranging from cheap to very expensive, from drop in any time to 'reservations strongly recommended,' from calm and delightful to noisy and smoky, from cash to cards.

Their attention to detail is excellent. They give you not only menu recommendations but the name of the nearest vaporetto stop AND walking directions from there. (One's gratitude knows no bounds.) They know the little secrets. Of course, everone by now has heard of the ombra, that traditional Venetian cooler, buy do you know the sgroppino? Do you know cichetti? Do you know that when ordering coffee in Venice (and everywhere else in Italy) you should forget anything that you've ever heard (or had) at Starbucks? Well, Essa and Edenbaum do.

This is the sort of book that makes you wish longingly to know as much as the authors do. Well, buy it and you're on your way. Note to the publisher: Yo! Next time, publish this in pocket-size format, OK? Readers will want to carry it with them. --Bill Marsano is the wine editor of Hemispheres, the magazine of United Airlines; he visits Italy three to six times a year.

This book saved our trip to Venice! We have traveled to Italy many times , and always enjoy the food tremendously- EXCEPT when we had made previous, short trips to Venice. Even when accompanied by Italian friends, we were ripped off by places with "tourist menus" (high prices and indifferent food combined with snarly service).

I bought this book for our recent return visit and it was invaluable! It proved it's worth on the very first day- before we unpacked and could check the book, we went to the first pizza place we saw, famished, soaking wet from a heavy rain, thinking, "Hey it's just lunch, how bad can it be?" HAH! 43 euros (yes, forty three) for two inedible pizzas, one beer and dirty tables. The next day, eating at Casa Mia, a place we would never have found without this book, we had some of the best pizza in Italy, a half-liter of superb house wine, friendly service...for 14 euros!

The book divides Venice into manageable neighborhoods, and gives very good directions. We founds great places for pizza, for drinks before dinner, for meeting friends for dinner, for cappucino in the morning. A very nice bonus was exploring the "less-touristed" parts of this beautiful city, guided by the suggestions and directions in the book.

I absolutely recommend this book for anyone traveling to Venice (my Italian friends want a copy!)- it will literally pay for itself with the first meal!

We ate in Venice for seven days and Chow Venice never failed us. The one time we used a local resident's advice we appreciated Chow Venice even more.

The authors never missed, from inexpensive pizzerias to top-of-the line restaurants. The directions to the restaurants were always accurate - an important feature.

I could not ask for a better book - short, precise, clear and readable.

The food in Venice is wonderful. Use this book and enjoy both the food and the book.

Reading the 2nd edition of Chow Venice made me want to get on a plane to Venice immediately. It is a wonderfully lively, thoughtful and trustworthy book, brought up to date and expanded.

Here's the antidote to the poison spewed by so many people, "That you can't get a decent meal in Venice." Shannon Essa and Ruth Edenbaum take you like insiders into dozens of Venice's known and unknown restaurants and bars highlighting the good and the great spots in everything from lunch of pizza or tramezzini to an afternoon snack of cichetti, an excellent dinner of branzino or spaghetti con vongole verace to a late night serving of French fries. Your mouth will water at the descriptions.

Their easy writing style will make you feel as if you're hearing reviews from old friends, especially with their anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book (one of my favorite parts). And after getting lost in Venice several times myself looking for a restaurant, I find the provided directions extremely helpful.

My only suggestion for the next edition (and I do hope there will be a second edition - as well as a Chow Rome, Chow Florence, etc.) would be to highlight some restaurants by category. Since most of us are not lucky enough to spend extended periods of time in this incredible city, a Top 3 Romantic Spots, or Top 3 Family Dining for example, might prove helpful in narrowing down choices from this incredible list.

Chow Venice is an essential book to planning a wonderful dining experience in La Serenissima.

This pocket/purse sized guide is the perfect companion for the food lover as you travel through Venice. With a sampling of restaurants from numerous price levels and atmospheres, it provides a list of guaranteed good meals. Not intending to be an inclusive list of all restaurants, bars, etc in Venice - which I venture to say would be impossible considering the number of places to eat in Venice -it takes the more novel and helpful approach of providing a "best of the best" that these two women have experienced throughout their travels. The bios indicate that both women have spent considerable time in Venice over many years and experienced the myriad of good and bad meals that the city has to offer. This book offers up their favorites providing imformation regarding the best dishes they have tasted at each (the best of the best of the best you could say), as well as price, forms of payment accepted, and clear directions (always helpful in Venice!). The authors have also included personalized vignettes about some of the restaurants which, though they can be easily skipped, add a special touch to this charming guide and make one feel that the city is already a special friend. A must have for the traveler to Venice!!

Have been to Venice previously, going again next month. I compared this to other dining guides, and find it much the best. The authors aren't just steering you to mainline places, but off the beaten path, where the locals eat (much more fun!) Some of the reviews are enough to make you hungry themselves. Descriptions of the restaurants are helpful, as well as the directions for finding them (although wandering about lost is more fun in Venice than just about anywhere else I've ever been!) Looking forward to exploring some of their suggestions.

I am not one for food guides ... I want to find the hole in the wall restaurants, and those that are not necessarily frequented by only tourists.

I knew Venice would be a challenge food-wise because so much of the town is pretty touristy, and Venice is not necessarily known for it's food (relative to the rest of Italy).

This book was the perfect companion for our trip. All of the details about location, hours, etc, were spot-on -- a feat in a town where it's difficult to find street names.

The restaurant descriptions were accurate, and the narrative was very approachable. I was pleased with every restaurant recommendation that we took from Chow Venice.

I just returned from 5 days in Venice, and used Chow! Venice more than any other guidebook to this amazing city. I cannot imagine trying to find the best restaurants, with the food that we wanted to eat, and at the best prices without having this book in hand.
It was funny seeing all the other tourists reading the menus in front of the restaurants and trying to decide whether or not to go in. By consulting this book, I was able to pick out a restaurant by, area, menu, and cost and simply make my reservations by phone.
Each and every one of the reviews was right on. We were never disappointed. We even used the author's recommendation and ate at a Mexican restaurant with an Italian flair.And this happened in a city that is suppose to be known for bad food and tourist traps! With Chow! Venice, this is simply not true.
The authors have eaten at all the restaurants they write about, and their first-hand knowledge is unlike any other guidebook I have ever read.
Since we were renting an apartment, we also used this book to find the best supermarkets and bakeries as well. I couldn't have been more pleased.
So if you're going to Venice, do yourself a favor and bring along Chow! Venice. If you don't, and you have a bad meal, you can only blame yourself.

I found the recommendations to be on the mark and the directions to be very helpful (go there and see what I mean). We used the book for all of our dinner reservations and were never disappointed in the least. Another plus is the website the authors have in which they update the book recommendations. Buy the book! Then email the authors (Shannon was fantastic and very helpful) if you want more update or detail-I don't know anyone else who has the class to do that.

If you want to dine well don't go to Venice without this guide. We recently returned from Venice and used Chow! Venice as our exclusive guide to find just the right restaurants. The descriptions provided are right on as are the directions. While in Venice you do a lot of walking and work up a healthy appetite. It's good to know that when you're hungry you won't have to search ten restaurant menus and still be taking a chance that the food won't meet expectations. Chow! Venice let us search by area to find just the right spots.

I've travelled throughout the world and have never found a restaurant guide as descriptive and accurate. I wish the authors would create others for Rome and Florence.

If you're planning a trip to Venice don't leave without this book.