Lunch on the Lido, Let’s go to Malamocco

Lunch on the Lido, Let’s go to Malamocco. It is only fitting that my very first lifestyle, restaurant post starts from the Lido di Venezia, where I live. Since starting What’s Mickey Cooking, my goal has been to fill my blog pages with some of my favorite recipes. Now that we are over a year old, and I have quite a few recipes to reference, the time has come to take you to some of my favorite places. These places are one’s that have inspired me and continue to inspire me in my home kitchen. Some of these locations will be places not found in guide books, others are famous, publicized and sometimes commercial. There will be places we frequent to just to eat a certain dish or a special seasonal item, and some that serve a dish that tastes better there anywhere else in the world. I hope you enjoy this new section of my blog. It will be fun to “finally” share these places with you!

Let’s go to Malamocco!

Lunch in Malamocco at an antique Borgo tucked inside of this charming little town on the Lido di Venice. Malamocco a “miniature” Venice, and historically significant,was the first settlement on the Island of Lido . This quaint place is easy to find from the main boat terminal of Lido at Santa Maria Elizabetta, by bicycle, bus or taxi. If you looking for a magical Venetian experience without the crowds, you can even stay in Malamocco at my friend Michela’s hotel Relais Alberti.

Now let’s go to lunch. Once you arrive in Malamooco, walk into the main square, you will notice a narrow street that takes you into the village. Walk along the street until you find on your left Trattoria al Ponte di Borgo, there are two picnic tables in the front.

Upon entering this dark and rustic locale, you will find the locals snacking on seasonal delicacies while drinking small glasses of wine. In the winter months, seating is limited to this inside area, but when weather permits, a thin pathway will take you to the back of the restaurant’s main outdoor dining room. It is here where we saw the owner, Mauro and his assistants preparing for the days lunch and dinner. On this particular day we observed two of the most tedious tasks our lagoon restaurateurs undertake, cleaning both tiny tiny baby shrimp and spider crab. Mauro explains how to efficiently clean these lagoon’s treasures, the difference between the male and female spider crab, why the female is precious for her eggs or “coral”. Then, and most importantly how to cut and prepare the body of the crab to yield the most amount of meat, a daunting job. You can really begin to understand why these items are so expensive.

Our lunch on Lido included some other delicious items from their very Venetian kitchen, local clams sautéed in garlic and olive oil.Next, Baccala Mantecato, a typical Venetian dish, baccala (dried cod fish) whipped with olive oil, garlic and milk, then the always delicious and Shrimp in Saor, another popular dish here, usually made with sardines, but is just as wonderful made with shrimp and sweet and sour onions. Everything was perfect. A wonderful afternoon on the Lido!