Nobal Glomad

Welcome to tourist centralé (yes me included, but naturally I’m special). Every second passer-by is neon stamped alien status. It’s catwalk amateur hour for suitcase haulers, some opting to pack the kitchen with regret halfway across the wheel-destroying Rialto Bridge. Hold your head up high though and follow the Disney-esque crowd… then turn left rather than right and pause for a side street panini, prosecco or perhaps a salad di pomodoro.

Here are five less-obvious to dos that will give you an introduction to some notable local talent.

VizioVirtù Cioccolateria
Map: Sestiere San Polo, 2898, Venezia
On my first day wandering Venice I was, for an hour, completely misplaced. Thanks to the alluring aromas of warm cocoa and an enticing edible front window of VizioVirtù, I knew I’d done a complete and fortunate loop. This charming lane stop is a classically refined chocolatier’s smack-me-up experience. The clear cellophaned hand-crafted blocks of cocoa, available in an abundance of percentage blends have optional coats of pistachio (favourite), sugared rose, orange, ginger, cinnamon (yes a whole stick) and other luxe nuts, fruits and spices. There they all sit in virgo-tiered rows of perfect timber joinery. There are over 100 types of nut brittle chunks and creamy ganaches, with far more fabulous than usual fillings of barolo chinato (red wine), Passito di Pantelleria (sweet white wine), balsamic vinegar (yumbo), tobacco (the perfect little nicotine hit), various teas, oriental spices and flowers.

Venezia Stampa
Campo
Map: Campo Santa Maria Mater Domini, Venezia
Plate and oldskool press print is well and truly in an eager state of revival, with strong industry support from our graphic designers de jour, fashion houses, fashionistas and boutique stationers. Venezia Stampa opened in 1989 has worked with a ‘piece of hostory’ 1950 Heidelberg letterpress Platina and a 1968 Kord Offset machine to archive the traditions of Venetian print technique. They produce limited edition posters, collectible postcards, bookmark originals, bookplates and American Psycho worthy personalised stationery. All artwork is from collaborations with local artists living in Venice.

Mercato di Rialto (Rialto Bridge Markets)
Map: North of the Ponte di Rialto, next to the Canal
Venetians love to eat… no make that the whole of Italy is food obsessed. Lunch finishes and already there’s concern over how to best prepare the rabbit ragu for dinner. Thankfully the Mercato di Rialto has a fabulous array of succulent meats (from donkey to tripe), fresh and hopefully not main Canal caught fish (welks… just disgusting), 10kg slabs of reggio, sacks of pasta, an abundance of summer fruits (berry central) and antipasto pleasing vegetables, enough wine to inebriate the entire island and with the change of season a cosy nose of freshly roasted chestnuts. Fill your tote with a crowd pleasing picnic spread and head to Giardini for a peaceful afternoon of tummy pleasures.

Al Mercà
Map: Near Mercato di Rialto, Campo San Giacometto
Hotel Breakfasts are… at best… awful. Save your appetite for a mid morning cicchetti (petit snack) with triple espresso at the 10th hour when Al Mercá may just be open. The 1.50 Euro ‘not particularly Venetion but tasty’ panini selection are local pit stop favourites so put the camera away, throw the handsome barrister a polite buongiorno and enjoy the just happen to be there encounter. All sounding too savoury? Close by is Al Pesador amongst a selection of boutique tapas-esque wine bars that quietly spill onto the Canal forecourt behind… sip away at your Campari tinged evening spritzer and a welcome plate of tuna and co. carpaccio.

Teatro Malibran
Map: Sestiere Cannaregio, 5873, Venezia
To have heard Farinelli’s castralti recital at this petit Venetian theatre in the 1700s *sigh*. You need only experience the mesmerising Parisian songbird de jour Phillipe Jaruski, a modern day ‘in-tact’ counter tenor to recollect the royal delight of his ever-captivated audience. Inaugurated during the Carnival of 1678, Teatre Malibran is today owned and restored by the city of Venice (as is her big brother Teatre La Fenice) and has a dynamic program of classic to contemporary artists performing regularly. Check out the what and who’s on calendar before you return to Venice, ensuring your journal’s memories are more than Piazzas, crumbling artifacts, gelati and gondolas.