Gillian Knows Best guide to cichetti in Venice
6 places for the most Venetian snack
What is cichetti?
The answer to that question is as varied as the rows of snacks displayed in glass cases all over Venice. In Venetian the word is cichéti and might come from the Latin ciccus, a word that means a small quantity or a bite. Chichetti is usually slices of bread (sometimes polenta) topped with something savory. The something can be Baccalà Mantecato (whipped stockfish and olive oil,) sarde e saor (onions and sardines and vinegar) or it might be a fried meatball or a dish of stewed tiny octopus.
You have cichetti in a bacaro, another word with uncertain origins, a small bar, usually standing up, usually with a glass of wine or a spritz.
According to one of the many legends about it, the term bàcaro comes from a gondolier’s exclamation: one day, when tasting a new wine from Southern Italy, he cried out “Bon, bon! Questo xe proprio un ‘vin de bàcaro” (“Very, very good! This is a bàcaro’s wine, indeed”). The Venetian phrase far bàcara means going on a drinking bout, in honour of Bacchus. Cantina Do Spade
Cichetti tours in Venice
The easiest way to learn about cichetti is to take a tour and let someone else to do the navigating. Devour will take you through the Rialto Market or for a sunset cichetti walk. Monica Cesarato has written a book all about cichetti in Venice.
I rarely leave Castello but when I do venture further than the via Garibaldi these are the places that I go to for a spritz bianco (white wine or Prosecco, fizzy water + an olive or a lemon slice) and a few pieces of cichetti. There is cichetti just about everywhere. Most of it is fine. I made you a list with one great cichetti spot in each Sestiere.
