Venice Gourmet Weekend: Where can we taste Venice food of the 15h century?

I was really surprised when during my school holidays back in 1993 I passed by this restaurant and its sign said "Le bistrot de Venise".

Like many Venetians I was surprised because I thought that French bistrot kitchen had finally arrived in the Venice lagoon (mind you, Venetian cuisine has been influenced by so many countries ... and by now we have an excellent choice of fusion and ethnic restaurants in Venice). However, this bistrot-restaurant soon changed its program - for the unique, and they offer the finest historic food based on recipes from the 14th to the 18th century. Of course the restaurant is mentioned in the Michelin Guide.

For all our guests that want to make a culinary journey back into the days of the Venice Maritime Republic (the "Serenissima" as we call it), this is the restaurant you should absolutely visit.

This is also true for those who want to taste the exquisite spice dishes of the Serenissima, like this one below: a selection of sea food in curry and cinnamon sauce.

Do click here to learn more about the Bistrot de Venice's menu.
My personal recommendation for you is to try the Venice sea food risotto with asparagus tips that are now in season, or my absolute favorite: risi e bisi: risotto with fresh green peas and bacon and lots of freshly grounded black pepper.
Rare old vines are also on offer, such as Malvasia, Rebula, Marzemin, Turchetta, Bianchetta, Raboso, and Osoleta. 

Many recipes are from this cookbook of 1450 by Marino da Como, but some are based on Bartolomeo Sacchi's, also originating in the 15th century.

Venice summer night 

Now there is not a real garden but you can still sit outside in Calle dei Fabbri. By the way, Calle dei Fabbri almost reaches Piazza San Marco, so if you need to go quickly towards Rialto and want to avoid the ever-crowded Mercerie area, simply cut through that connecting Calle.
You can watch the intro of the Restaurant website here to get an impression of how beautifully this restaurant is located - now imagine a warm summer night sitting here and enjoying these delightful dishes.
So the restaurant aptly combines 15th century spicy renaissance cuisine with popular dishes from the Venetian people (few spices, but flavored with garden herbs).

bisato (eel) in laurel, pepper and cinnamon sauce

VERY tasty and spicy sea food pasta (bigolì as we would call it)

Classic and ever-present: fegato alla veneziana: fi'ga a la venexiana - Liver Venetian style and polenta

This includes combination of dishes seasoned with salsa d'agresto - a Medevial sort of black nuts and almond BBQ sauce. We will come back to typical Medevial dishes later on in this blog.