Robin Saikia's Drink and Think Venice

There are lots of conventional tourist guides to Venice. Robin Saikia’s Drink & Think Venice, just out from Blue Guide, is not one of them.

Let’s be honest. Whatever particular flavour of conventional guidebook you choose, what you get is pretty much the same info regurgitated in different forms. History, itinerary recommendations, practical and sometimes not so practical travel recommendations, along with a listing of bars and restaurants most of which seem to come from the same predictable sources.

All of which is fine but to be honest you only need most of that background information once. And restaurant and bar recommendations are decidedly unreliable in a city where establishments change hands, change quality, sometimes vanish altogether remarkably quickly. I was last here in February and today, four months later, there are three more startup restaurants in new premises just walking distance from my flat. They may be good — I’ve no idea. But will they be there four months hence? Not a clue…

What Robin does in this book is something far more interesting than trying to guide visitors to places they might like. Instead, he lists the places he has come to love as a long-term Venice resident, then happily departs from the predictable business of what they serve to offer a series of fascinating insights into their history and that of their locale. So in the case of the Trattoria San Basilio we swerve from the simple spot near the vaporetto stop of the same name and learn all about Air Marshal Robert ‘Pussy’ Foster of the RAF who, in 1945, organised an air raid on a German warship here that was purposely planned not to damage the historic city.

Cross the Grand Canal to Al Todaro near the Piazza San Marco and you’ll discover Francesco Morosini, the Venetian warlord who never went into battle without his loyal cat Nini (now an embalmed museum exhibit with a mouse in its paws) by his side along with a dummy prayer book that concealed a pistol.

There are drink recommendations naturally, proof that the author and his companion pooch, the aptly named Spritz, have pounded the pavements for their research. In the Taverna Al Remer we’re advised to try the malvasia, a wine popularised by Venetian traders. At Schiavi in Dorsoduro we’re guided to a glass of Bardolino Chiaretto alongside the tale of how Venice came to love baccalà, the creamed stockfish, that cicchetti staple of today. There’s also Robin’s own invented cocktail, the Red Priest, named after Vivaldi, one part vodka, one part Select, one part vermouth, served in the Palazetto Pisani, a place I’d never heard of till now.

Yes, you get Florian’s and Harry’s Bar, two places I’ve never set foot in all the time I’ve been coming here, and that isn’t likely to change. But we visit high and low, from the expensive quarter of San Marco to a chioscetto at Piazzale Roma, a place easily and wrongfully overlooked, and the cheery, old-fashioned Caffè Rosso in Campo Santa Margherita, all garnished with tales of history and the many eccentrics who’ve passed through Venice over the years.

I was particularly pleased to see Robin including a humble little favourite of mine, Blu bar which you’ll find by the bridge to Santa Marta in Dorsoduro, opposite the Veronese church of San Sebastiano, next door to Modigliani’s old home and a few steps along from the former palazzo of L.P. Hartley, author of The Go-Between. This is a spot for locals mostly, a cheap neighbourhood caff run by a Chinese family.

During the pandemic I found myself in an apartment across the bridge where, after five days of quarantine, I ventured out into the ghost city of the time. The family in Blu could not have been more friendly or more helpful, so I heartily endorse Robin’s advice that this is a great place to stop for a caffè corretto. The morning coffee and freshly baked cornetti are excellent too and the local clientele often colourful to a tee,

This is a delightful book which will give you a flavour of ‘real’ Venice you won’t get from any of the standard guides. Elegantly written, opinionated, unpredictable and downright quirky, much like the author himself.

You can buy it in all the usual places. But why not treat yourself and get it from the source. Find your way to Blu and this delightful corner of distant Dorsoduro where the tourist crowds rarely reach, and the only commotion will be gaggles of students from the nearby universities. Just a few doors down you’ll get to the Vert-de-Venise Gallery, (Fondamenta San Basegio 1645, Dorsoduro, Venice). This is the gallery Robin runs with his artist partner Katia Margolis. You can buy the book there, and Katia’s paintings too. And pat Spritz the dog if you’re lucky before embarking on your explorations of a Venice many visitors will never see.