OSTERIA AL SQUERO

Squero refers to a boatyard where gondolas are built or repaired. This osteria faces the Squero San Trovaso – one of the last such working boatyards in Venice.

Founded by two brothers (Alessandro Vio runs the front of the house; Cristiano makes the cicchetti), Al Squero draws an animated crowd of art students from the nearby Academia Museum and tourists from around the planet.

Of course, they serve the ubiquitous baccalà mantecata (salt cod simmered in milk and whipped with oil to a snowy mousse) and sarde in saór (sweet and sour sardines). But you will also find such decidedly untraditional cicchetti as tissue-thin slices of lardo perfumed with honey, rosemary and pink peppercorns, and crostini heaped with roasted pumpkin, porcini and ricotta. There are meatless polpette for vegetarians, and in a nod to the ecological concerns of young Venetians, the cicchetti come on biodegradable plates.