Another dark, brooding interior defines this Venetian restaurant, but on the brighter side there's a charming, sun dappled patio out front. It's far enough away from the tourist trail by to be quiet and relaxing, yet close enough to be easy to find. I'll test this idea when I look for it on our next visit to Venice.
Finalmente!!! A restaurant serving bread with a higher purpose than to sop up sauce, a bread that actually had flavor, has been found. On many trips to Venice, we have seen and purchased quality bread, but the restaurants seemed to have overlooked these. Finding sesame grissini and these rosemary rolls was a real pleasure that foretold what we might reasonably expect from the lunch we had ordered. The menu items were not the "usual suspects", but sounded imaginative enough to believe that the chef really enjoyed cooking with emphasis on both its regional and seasonal aspects.
Our shared appetizer was a cow's milk Tomino cheese wrapped in red radicchio that has been grilled until the cheese melted and sauteed. It was served with a dipping sauce, made primarily of butter and what I believe may have been a splash of orange juice. Tomino can be traditionally served with sauteed radicchio, but these little bundles are what gave this combination a life of its own.
Our niece, Katie, went with the seafood ravioli or agnolotti. I'm not certain what it was listed as on the menu, but it was a filled pasta by any name. It was served with a scampi, the first Katie had ever seen;can you tell? It was a very successful dish with a rich seafood filling blanketed with a light, seafood infused tomato sauce.
My selection was a bit riskier as it was totally out of my personal frame of reference. It was a zucca (winter squash) gnocchi sitting in a frico (melted Parmigiano or Grana) basket, covered in a butter sauce. The tiny orange specks may have been minced carrot or even more zucca. I had to order it, if for no other reason than, to take a photograph of a "primi" served in a cheese basket. Since the basket didn't photograph well, I considered it a bad choice, but it tasted good and was inventive.
Bentigodi Website
The Bentigodi website has a useful map that shows directions that are very easy to follow.
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