January 2016
This was a super special trip. It was a romantic weekend away for S & R’s sixth anniversary, which turned into a magical, celebratory weekend as R popped the question! They are a little camera shy, but I managed to sneak one picture in of the happy couple 🙂
The long weekend (Friday to Monday) started at Gatwick airport with a bottle of Champagne. They do say, “Start as you mean to go on!” S had no idea where we were going, and thanks to the modern, streamlined process of checking in online these days, R managed to keep it a surprise until we got to the boarding gate, at which point S yelled, “Oh my god we’re going to Venice!!!!!” and got a few bemused looks.
Friday night dinner was at a little restaurant recommended by our concierge. This fabulous little find is very relaxed with friendly and knowledgeable service. We enjoyed a stunning bottle of local wine, a Musella Amarone. It was a luscious, rich, full-bodied wine with dark fruits. It was slightly sweet from the appassimento process of drying the grapes to the point of losing 35% of their weight before crushing. This process concentrates the flavours and gives the wine more body and structure.
Best of all though was the food. It was divine! The cuisine is Venetian, the food is fresh, and they even have a gluten free menu. I started with the squid ink risotto which was perfectly cooked (not crunchy or mushy!). It was so good that I forgot to take a picture until I had almost finished it! My next course was the squid and polenta. The squid was lovely, but the star of the dish was actually the polenta!! My word, it was light and delicate, slightly crispy on the outside, and full of beautiful flavour.
When in Italy… S was craving a pizza and had happy memories from a trip to Rome of the most amazing, crispy gluten free pizza in the world. On a recommendation, we scouted out this pizzeria for lunch on Saturday. The place was decked out in American memorabilia. It was super casual and had an impressively long pizza menu. R had the hot and spicy Mangiafuoco with spicy salami, chilli peppers, paprika, and tabasco. It was insanely delicious! S had the Caprese with cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and basil. The gluten free base was soggy, but once she added some chilli oil, her pizza was delicious too. I was saving my appetite for dinner, so just had a little of each of their pizzas to keep me going 🙂
Carnival
What serendipitous timing!!! We had no idea that Venice had a carnival, let alone that it started on this weekend! It added even more fun to the weekend as we witnessed a mob of zombies descend the steps of the Rialto bridge. There were also many in beautiful traditional Venetian dress. Brunch on Sunday morning afforded a fabulous sight through the haze of a hangover – a congregation of wonderfully creative boats (including a giant rat!) waiting to “parade” down the Grand Canal.
Restaurant La Cusina
We started Saturday evening with cocktails in Bar Tiepolo in the Westin Europa & Regina before moving to their restaurant for dinner. R had mentioned to them that it was a special occasion and managed to get the best table in the house with a beautiful view over the Grand Canal and the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.
It was here that R and S came up with a fun concept. We love tasting menus, but they didn’t like the look of the one here. They did, however, like the look of several dishes on the main à la carte menu. So we created our own tasting menu! R placed the order as, “First we’ll have this starter, and we’re going to share it. Then we will have this starter, and we’re going to share that too” and so on. Not only was the waiter fine with this, but the kitchen very impressively split each dish up onto separate plates for us! Sorry, I didn’t take any pictures here, you will have to take my word that the food was beautifully presented and tasted divine.
R was struggling to find a bottle of white wine to have with our first couple of courses. The restaurant manager (who was absolutely wonderful!) recommended a Pinot Grigio at which we all shook our heads and said no, not enough flavour. R eventually settled on something else, which was lovely but nothing amazing. A little while later, the restaurant manager bounded over with the Pinot Grigio and said, “I’m going to open this and we’re going to drink it together!” So he did, and we did, and it was phenomenal! Unlike any Pinot Grigio I have ever tasted, it was reminiscent of a Burgundian Chardonnay! It looked different too, preserving the grapes’ natural coppery pink colour thanks to the oxygen free environment during production.
The Proposal
It was a few minutes after midnight, so officially into their anniversary. R led S out to the balcony. They stood there with a gorgeous view of the Basilica. There was a beautiful full moon looking down on them. Did I mention that there were five planets in alignment that night too? (Seriously, no joke!) He commented on their amazing relationship and the incredible six years they had been together thus far. He then said he had gotten her a little token of his love and pulled a little black velvet pouch out of his pocket. You could see the emotions run across her face, “Could it be? No. Maybe…” Then out of the pouch came… a silver heart-shaped handbag holder (one of those brilliant gadgets that hooks your handbag on to the table, S never leaves home without one)! There was a hilarious mix of disappointment and appreciation running across S’ face at that point! R enjoyed the fun for a moment, and then added, “And this.” And out came the ring. R – “Will you marry me?” S – “Put that ring on my finger before it falls off the balcony and into the canal!!”
Restaurant Terrazza Danieli
Dinner Sunday night took us to the top floor of the Hotel Danieli. Once again, by special request, we had the best table in the house with a wonderful view over the canal. We had had so much fun the night before creating our own tasting menu that we decided to do the same again. The staff here were equally accommodating. It was another exceptional meal with exquisite wine. There was a pianist for entertainment that night and much to our amusement and pleasure, S got up and sang a song!
There was one incident that slightly disrupted the evening. Somehow I managed to get some of my sticky, red desert wine over me. S leaped into action to save me, whisking me to the bathroom to have a quick bath. Thankfully she managed to get all the sticky red stuff off me and wrapped me snugly up in a lovely white, fluffy cotton towel to dry off.
When we got back to our hotel and went to the bar for a night cap, the wonderful Serena let me dry off and warm up on the lovely, toasty coffee machine (thank you!) while she taught us about an aspect of Italian culture: the caffè corretto. This is a lovely little jump start if you ever need one – a shot of espresso with a little liquor in it. I quite enjoy a “corretto con sambuca”.
Venetian Glass
The place to go for demonstrations, tours, and sales of Venetian glass is the little island of Murano. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to do this. Thankfully someone made a quick phone call for us and organised a tour of the Vecchia Murano Glass Factory in the centre of Venice. We saw an extraordinarily skilled artisan create a glass horse in minutes! They have some truly stunning works of art in many showrooms, it is worth a wander through to admire the craftsmanship and beauty. Unlike some tours, there was no pressure to buy anything here.
All in all, it was a fun, fairytale weekend that was simply magical!
Until next time, big bear hugs from Little Ted xx
Little Ted's Food & Wine Adventures 