It’s late afternoon. You’ve had an exciting day, exploring and absorbing the city, and you’re ready to relax and recount your experiences with your companions over a nice glass of vino. You ease into an enoteca and review the list scrawled on the chalkboard.

Vernaccia Nera? Cesanese? Greco di Tufo? Schiop…schioppe…? You turn to the barista and sheepishly order red wine; they, sensing your anxiety, suggest a Chianti, knowing this is something you might recognize. *Whew* Crisis averted.

It doesn’t have to be this way. You’ve come too far to drink the very same wines you’d find back home – especially when that means you’ll be missing out on some of the best and most exciting Italy has to offer, many of which never leave the region, let alone the country.

Lessons of the Vine is a different sort of wine tasting: informative and unpretentious, it’s designed to introduce you to the regions, native varieties, and terriors that combine to produce some of the most delightful and interesting wines in Italy. The focus is on distinctive wines from small producers, chosen specifically for their quality and diversity. As you taste, you’ll also learn how to choose the best Italian wines both as you travel, and once you’re back home.

In fact, after experiencing Lessons of the Vine, you’ll be the one recommending Greco di Tufo…we guarantee it!

INCLUDES:

• Tasting of 5 wines, chosen according to season and theme.
• Lively, informative explanations by a native English speaker and professional sommelier, accompanied by materials for remembering the wines you experienced during the tasting
• Samples of typical antipasti to complete the event, chosen to enjoy with  your favorite wine from the tasting
• 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. (other times possible on request)

COST:

• 2 – 3pp    €55 per person
• 4 – 6pp    €45 per person

Larger groups on request.

How would you like to enjoy a privately prepared meal in a contemporary Venetian home? Would you prefer that meal prepared in the apartment where you’re staying? Having friends in during your stay and looking for a catering services? How about combining the meal while practicing your Italian? These creative, personable professionals are here for you.

So much of Venice’s popularity rests on its past laurels, but these two enterprising women have divined to take the city’s most treasured gastronomic and social elements to have you experience them in a contemporary and most delectable way.

La Mela (the Apple) offers three menus of primi, secondi and desserts that change with the season, and range from bio-natural to Venetian to tipically Italian in nature, all created with the freshest ingredients with the utmost skill and care. You can enjoy them in Manu’s luminous, contemporary mansarda (attic) home: a stone’s throw from the Teatro Fenice, with the San Marco Campanile peering in the window. Or, if you’d prefer, enjoy your repast and their company in your own apartment: they will bring the meal to you. Socialize with your hosts in Italian if you’d like to practice, or in your native English.

As an alternative, you might simply choose to meet for an apertivo and enjoy chat at a traditional cafe.

With each meal, you’ll receive an apple as an appropriate memento.

La Mela is available to reserve for lunch, apertivo, or dinner, any day of the week. Just write with your preferences and reserve your private Venetian meal, as you like it.

PRICES START from €35 per person and will depend on meal requirements. Meals include wine. Please note any allergies or other dietary preferences with your request.

Buon appetito!

One of our most popular offerings, and a must for foodies of all sorts. An up-close, behind the scenes introduction to not only what, but who makes up consumable Venice, guaranteed to afford you one of the most authentic, informative, and sensual (literally) Venetian experiences of your visit.

Too many landlubbers miss some of the best meals available in the city because “they don’t care for fish.” Often this is because they’ve never tasted fish that, as we say, “was swimming with his brothers just a few hours ago.” “It’s alive!” shrieks a visitor, recoiling from the claws of an indigo-blue astice. Says Loris (bettern known as Lolo): “If it’s not alive…it’s no good!”

Let Lolo give you the insider’s perspective on one of the most famous fish markets in the world. He’ll introduce you to its proud members, just arrived from the lagoon inlets and the high Adriatic, and beyond. They come in every form and fashion, depending on the season: shrimp to scampi (do you know the difference?), scallops to razor clams, eels to rays, tuna to swordfish. You’ll hear about Venetian fishing and cooking traditions and how they’ve evolved, even get tips on how to choose and prepare some simple dis hes yourself.

After leaving the market we’ll take the traghetto across the Grande Canal and head for the elegant Fontego dei Pescatore, where you’ll witness chef Massimo’s expert preparation of a few of the fish you’ve just met. We’ll follow that with a brief sampling of three different types of olive oil selected to accompany various dishes served at the restaurant. We’ll also taste a flight of wines from the Tre Venezie (Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige), paired to accompany the sumptuous lunch (or dinner, if you prefer) that will combine all the elements of the morning. The menu is created with quello del’megliore che c’è, the best selections of the day, and guaranteed to please everyone from the most adventurous to the pickiest of diners.

INCLUDES:

Rialto Fish Market tour with Loris Manna, President of the Rialto Fishmongers Association

• Private Rialto Fish Market tour with Loris Manna, President of the Rialto Fishmongers Association
• Fish preparation demonstration with Chef Massimo
• Olive oil sampling
• Tre-Venezia wine tasting
• Four-course gourmet meal with wine, comprising all the elements of the tour.

COST:

• 2pp €360
• 4pp €470
• 6pp €685
• 8pp €785

Please note: when booking this tour, do let us know of any allergies or dietary concerns you may have.

NOTE:

This tour is available from Wednesday – Saturday. During July and August, the restaurant is open only in the evening, so the market tour will take place in the morning, and the remaining portion in the evening at 7p. The market visit and wine tasting / meal may be able to take place on separate days should the schedule demand it.

This tour may not be available in August, when the fishing is at its poorest.