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Hi Robert. Your report on Dalla Marisa sounds great.But the 30 minute ride on the vaporetto cattle-car doesnt sound overly inviting. Or am I exaggering the discomfort involved?Did you look into the water taxi situation? I know they're expensive, but how much could it be? What happened when you went to Trattoria Laguna?

The vaporetto for Punta Sabbione leaves SantaZaccharia every half hour.Its line number, I think I remember, is LN. The dock is a particular one of several in a row, its close to the Metropole Hotel. Its a tedious 40 minute ride on an always over-crowded boat. When you arrive at Punta Sabbione a big orange bus is waiting to meet the boat. But its out of sight, hidden behind a building to your right as you emerge.We didnt see it, wandered around, suddenly it took off right near us. I yelled for it to stop but was ignored. So we had to phone for a taxi, waited 20 minutes for it to arrive and another 20 minutes to reach the restaurant. If we had caught the bus, I dont know how close it would have taken us to the Trattoria Laguna, but presumably close enough. Vedat says when he inquired about being met at the dock by the owner's son, was told no dice.But someone who posted on E-Gullet, or perhaps another channel, I forget, said his hotel made his reservation and he was in fact met at the dock. So maybe if your hotel has enough clout, you can get the same treatment.Apple certainly had no trouble getting the VIP treatment. Now about the return trip. When you e-mail for your reservation you will be told that Alvise, the owner's son , will personally drive you to the dock in time for the last boat at night.(at least he will if you ask) Or if he's too busy, as he was the night we were there, he gets a friend to drive you. This is gratis(but a tip for the friend is obviously called for..) The problem lies in the scheduling situation. I thought there would be boats every half hour, as there were coming from Venice.But it wasnt so. We were deposited at Punta Sabbioni around 10:45, and discovered the next boat wasnt until 11:43 (PM). So we had to sit on an outdoor bench for an hour, half frozen. A very miserable situation.But if you find out the exact schedule of return boats, you can avoid that.Or just time your dinner to catch the 11:43. This is all based on the assumption that you're going for dinner, not lunch.If you're going for lunch, I really cant supply any pertinent info, other than what I've spelled out already.

My daughter points out to me that the owners of Il Rigoletto told us they were re-opening their hotel, the Nablia, the next night. My memory on this is blurred, but if she says that then I assume that is correct. I would advise anyone planning to visit Il Rigoletto to check with the owners by phone . Spending the night there is obviously the easy way to do it.

Robert- The internet shows one hotel in Reggiolo, the Cavallo Bianco. It has 3 stars, under the Italian Govt. rating system, not much of a recommendation, but not the world's worst either.The Michelin online lists only one hotel in Reggiolo, the Nablia, but it is no longer there.Michelin does nt list the Cavallo Bianco, usually a bad sign, some defect or other may exist there.Michelin shows the nearest town with a recommended hotel,(two roofs) as Fabbrico, 5 kilometers away. Sounds close, but I wouldnt want to have to try and find it at night. Both the hotel and the restaurant would be basically impossible to find. The way we did it, hiring a Mantova taxi, is the simplest, but it means an extra 100 euros.

I've been carelessly and inexcusably misdescribing the location of the restaurant Il Rigoletto as in Reggiolo, 29 kilometers due south of Verona. It is not due south of Verona, it is due south of Mantova. If you can navigate that trip at night in your own car, I tip my hat to you. We needed a Mantova taxi to take us there and back. Expensive, but worth it. The place just earned its second star. It deserves three. It is run by a husband-wife team. The wife is nice, the husband-chef weighs over 300 pounds. He has obviously been gorging on his own cuisine and who can blame him? Price for the tasters menu was 96 euros. Talk about bargains!

Vedat: Al Soriso was our last night of the trip. As I stated previously, my energy level for transcribing details of our meals had run down considerably long before that.So my notes on Al Soriso are not all they could be- not that the notes of other restaurants were any better. But here is what my notes show:Tasters menu 125 euros. Reasonable. Most inexpensive wine on the list was 60 euros. Much higher than anyplace on the trip Amuse: a tomato mousse with basil sauce. A solid mousse, not a flimsy one.Wonderful start to the dinner. I gave it A First course: Foie gras with a small scoop of peanut ice cream plus onions and fresh peach. Sounds crazy but it was heavenly.This I gave A+ Second course:Shrimp in a sauce made from cream of peas plus anchovies. Another A. Third course:Small green raviolis with cheese and mayonaise sort of sauce.Marvellous dish. An A. Fourth course pigeon- but here my notes die out, only the letter A remains.I'm trying to remember the nature of the dish, but all that comes back to me is that we loved it. Sorry I cant be more helpful.But with that woman chef, wife of the owner, in the kitchen, everything is absolutely top class, its impossible to go wrong. Before dessert they served a glass of sherry, hit the spot perfectly. We had several mind-numbing desserts, but my mind is blank , except that I remember that we floated out of there on a cloud. This is the second time we were there, first time in 2002. Second times are almost invariably a let-down , but not for this joint., this time was equal to or better than the first. I know this is not the kind of review you or Robert Brown or Degusto would give. All I can do is apologize. You have been so helpful to me and I am unable to reciprocate in kind.How about if I guarantee to pay for your dinner there if you find it to deserve less than an A rating? At Le Calandre we got one of the tasters menus so the pigeon dish was small ,not a so-called main course.My memory of it has faded but the description of it on the menu is as follows:Piccione di Sante arrosito con le sue frattaglie, tarturo nero, radicchi di campo e crema forte di pere. I am drawing a blank on it, but I gave it an A, (as I did everthing else they served.) Il Rigoletto is in Reggiolo, 29 kilometers due south of Verona. The Verona taxi driver had some difficulty finding it. The exact address is on their website.If you cant find it on the web,let me know, I will get it for you. By the way, the best ravioli on the entire trip was at Al Pompiere, never have tasted anything to match it. I have you to thank for that dinner, never would have known the place existed without your recommendation.

Here is what we had at Villa Crespi: Tasting menu 74 euros My writing partly illegible. First amuse was a light ricotta cheese with anchovy and tomato. Rating A Second amuse was tartare of salmon,crusted with quail egg, with caviar and an herb sauce. Rating A+ First course squid, dried roe(?)buffalo fresh cheese(?) intelligible word describing the sauce.Rating A Second course was risotto with prawns in a lemon sauce. Rating A Third course was sea bass, chestnut puree plus black truffles,and fried eels. Rating B+. Fourth course was seared pigeon, broccoli, fruit compote.Rating A Palate clearer was orange-flavored cold eggnog Rating A Dessert was a creamy concoction in a heavenly sauce (thats all my notes say) Rating A. Pretty impressive, eh Francesco? Try it for yourself and see if you dont agree with me.

Francesco, I forgot to reply to your question about Villa Crespi. Rather than describe each dish - my energy level after all this typing is fizzling out, I will just summarize as follows: Tasters menu. Two amuses, both rate A. First and second courses I gave A.Third course B+,fourth course A and dessert A. Tomorrow when I am re-energized I will try to be more helpfu, by desribing-briefly- each dish.

Hi Francesco. Thanks for your post. Looking at my again inadequate and illegible notes on Arquadeand Rigoletto, I see the following: Arquade.Tasters menu.First two amuses, salmon plus mozarella, A, and Tuna tartare ,also A.First course tomato with bread (dont know what I actually wrote there!) I gave it a B+.Next came oysters and sardines . I gave it A.Then an elixir of tomato, tempura batterwith toast, scampi and veggies.I gave it A.Next bean soup with stuffed squid and kidneys, another A.Then came lobster ravioli with olives and pesto in a potato sauce, another A.But then came breast of duck, honey and yogurt mousse . I gave it a C.Then a ricotto cheese pie plus some illegible items, I gave it B. Then a meringue nut cake, an A.So overall what? I chose B+, maybe should be A-. Now Rigoletto. Perfection!Tasters menu. First shrimp, plus foie gras,. zuchini and cream of pine nut soup. I gave it A+ Then roasted tuna on cream of tuna(?) fish soup, tomatoes, capers, oil of anchovies.I gave it A.Then baby squid with a couple of illegible items and poached (?) truffles. Another A. Then lasagna with fresh fish and shellfish(?). Another A.Then artichoke ravioli with cheese soup, oysters and anchovies. An A+. Then mullet with zucchini ,scallops and squid An A. Then pigeon, foie gras, chestnut(next word illegible) and apples. Another A. I didnt record the desserts, I was floating on a cloud of gastonomy. Rigoletto not easy to get to or find at night. But worth anything .I paid a taxi 100 euros to take us there from Verona, wait for us and then take us back.It was worth it! Thanks for calling this joint to my attention ,Francesco. It is every bit as good as my other A+s, Al Soriso and Le Calandre.

Hi Vedat: I can certainly put the weight of my opinion, for whatever its worth, behind your decision to put Villa Crespi and Al Soriso, particularly the latter, on your wish list. But dont forget Il Rigoletto, a genuine A+ in my book. Its located in Reggiolo, 29 kilometers south of Verona, and most certainly worth the driving effort. Very complicated drive and hard to find- we took a taxi. Villa Fiordaliso. I dont know if the chef changed.. My inadequate and illegible notes show we had the tasters menu.Started with spiny lobster with aubergine sauce plus gaspacho in a little bottle, I rated it A. Next ,risotto with sea urchins. The rice was too heavy and the sauce unimpressive. I gave it a C. Next, turbot with octopus in some sort of green sauce, I rated it C. Next a cheese fondue with asparagus, I gave it C Next, lamb with prunes. I gave it B. Service was extremely slow, some sort of glitch in the kitchen. So overall a disappointment. Trattoria Laguna. I hesitate to endorse it too fully, because I wouldnt want to see you have to put up with the logistics. A 40 minute ride on an overcrowded vaporetto, then the bus hidden from sight and we missed it, then a long taxi ride, worse problems on the return, we were delivered to the dock an hour too early and had to sit and freeze,etc. Nothing is worth all that.The shellfish was excellent, one dish after another, until we finally had to cry uncle. So we never got to the fish main course, just a succession of shellfish dishes, all delicious but not any different from the same shellfish we had at Corte Sconte, for example, and of course at Alle Testiere. Strictly on a taste basis I would say its the close to Alle Testiere, but positively not worth the inconvenience. Yes, its difficult to be back from Italy!! Have to endure local restaurants with visions of Italy dishes dancing in our heads. Life is TOUGH!

Hi Alberto Da Vitorrio got very lavish praise from Robert Brown and even more so from Vedat Milor, so I was expecting the ultimate in gastronomy.First mistake was declining the all shellfish dinner. It was Sunday, I was leary about seafood on a Sunday and I wanted to sample the veal cheeks and suckling pig. So we ordered the tasting menu.Looking at my partially illegible notes, I see that I gave one amuse a D , it was a little hot dog with mustard and the second one a C-, it was a tiny grilled cheese sandwich.Later dishes I see I gave a B, a C, a B+ a B and a B+. Veal cheeks were B+ and suckling pig was a B. One outstanding dish was a crayfish with a great sauce. The other seafood items were all A. I advise anyone who goes there to order the seafood dinner for two, forget the rest of the menu, even on a Sunday. Dal Pescatore I expected perfection (which we got at Il Rigoletto, Al Sorisoand Le Calandre) and which I remembered from our previous visit there. but it wasnt to be. Two B dishes the first night(veal liver with mushrooms and soup with snails and truffles). One C dish the second night, sea bass and vegetables and peppers, very tough. Le Calandre I got from everybody and his brother. Arquade I got from Francesco who pointed out to me that it had just been elevated from one star to two. Villa Crespi was praised highly by one of your predecessors as Forum Host, a couple years ago, either Craig Camp or Bill Klapp, I forget which, and highly rated by Gambero Rosso.Since we flew into Malpensa and were bypassing Milan, Lake Orta was a perfect first night stop, onlya 45 minute drive. A great dinner there, I recommend that scheduling idea to anyone flying to Malpensa from the U.S None of those three chefs made an appearance, I didnt know they were young, if their cuisine had a common thread it wasnt noticeable to me Now the Metropole.Vedat Milor told me that Luca, the co-owner of Alle Testiere, had told him that he hottest hotel restaurant in Venice was at the Metropole He takes his own family there on special occasions. Who would know better than Luca?Since it was a Sunday night, with few joints open, this was the obvious place to go.Disastro! Crazy, tasteless, inedible food combinations, one course worse than the other. When we still had three courses to go, we called it quits. I told Luca about this when we went to Alle Testiere two nights later. He was very apologetic, said he had only been there once, some time previously and could.nt explain why we had run into such bad luck.Time passes, it was an aggravation then; today it is only a memory.

Just returned from a 14 day eating tour of Northern Italy. It was my intention to describe and rate every dish we ate at every restaurant.I had a notebook which I used to record each meal dish by dish. But after several days my ambition began to fade.Most dishes were listed on the menus in Italian, with words unknown to me and the waiters hurried explanations of what we were being served were delivered in fractured English, - the upshot being that I was hard-pressed to record the dishes in any intelligible way, lost my energy , and am therefore unable to deliver a reasonably intelligent review of exactly what we wolfed down. So in lieu of my original plan, I am simply going to rate each restaurant with a letter from A to F and let it go at that. I realize that this wont be of much use to anyone planning a trip to some of the same locations, but I plead extenuating circumstances: my age (83)- my level of energy is not quite what it once was. I will be glad to answer any questions as to locations and food details as best I can, scrounging up what I can from my notebook and memory. The following are the restaurants in the order in which we went. Villa Crespi A Da Vittorio (a disappointment) B Arquade B+ Il Rigoletto (Bravo, Francesco!) A+ Dal Pescatore B+ Dal Pescatore B+ Al Pompiere (Bravo, Vedat!) A Le Calandre A+ Metropole Hotel (Obviously a story goes with this disaster) F Trattoria Laguna (shellfish outstanding, but logistics of getting and returning too difficult to make this joint worthwhile- so no rating) Alle Testiere A La Peca (One fantastic dish, one mediocre, one inedible, ) B- Villa Fiordaliso C Al Soriso (cant imagine why there are doubters among you) A+

We were in Alsace two years ago and dined at L'Arnsbourg, Auberge de l'Ill and Buerehiesel. I thought L'Arnsbourg was far and away the best, in a class by itself. An absolutely stunning, unforgettable dinner. Auberge de l"Ill was a revisit.In 1965 we stayed up at Trois Epis for a week and drove down to the Auberge six straight nights and went through the entire menu. Today the place is unrecognizable but still very good, not in L'Arnsbourg's class , but outstanding dishes and wonderful presentation. Buerehiesel I thought was absolutely pedestrian. Nothing. How it ever got 3 stars I cant imagine. I would give it one star maximum.I have plenty of company in this opinion.

Both menus, of course. Never occurred to me to do anything else.Saves the agony of making decisionns

Alberto!! You made some stops in Nortern Italy and didnt report on them?? Come on, lets here about where you ate! Your appreciation of Dal Pescatore coincides with mine. To prove how much I loved it, we are dining there twice in May on consecutive nights (after Nadia interceded- we were first told that only one night was available, but when she discovered that ,she intervened. Its good to be a VIP!!)

I'm curious to know what determines the order in which hotels are listed on Via Michelin on-line. Its not alpabetical, and its not according to how many roofs. Does the order indicate Michelin's opinion as to its own preferences?

Many posts about Alle Testiere, but none state whether it is open for lunch. Anyone know?

154(days until Bergamo)

Vedat!! You never told us you were married to a movie star!!!

Trattoria Laguna was called to my attention by Joe H. It was highly praised by RWApple of the New York Times last April. .Neither Joe nor I have been there yet, but I am going in May. It is located in Cavolino on the Cavolino peninsula in the Venice Lagoon. It is reachable by vaporetto.The Lido vaporetto stops there after leaving the Lido. You are met by a waiting bus.The food is seafood-only. Its open on Sundays. It sounds like a great lunch outing, although we plan on going there for dinner.

Alberto, do they have two sittings there or one? If two, what are the times?

Dont know why my trip decisions should attract such solicitous interest in Francesco and Boris, but I am certainly grateful for it. I flip-flop from one idea to another at the drop of a hat, as you may have observed. My latest decision is to keep Aquila Nigra and Mantova(which includes an early morning guided tour of a cheese dairy) and scratch Rigoletto in favor of not Locanda Stella d'Oro, but instead La Fiaschetteria.Its in the same area and is recommended by Boris' source and looks very enticing on the internet. Attactive premises, tasting menu,one star, etc . Stella d'Oro, on the other hand turns up four negative reviews(five favorable) including two diners who claim to have been deliberately cheated on their checks. I'm determined to have culatello and the traditional local cuisine that goes with it, and am willing to pass up what appears to be more creative cuisine at Rigoletto, something I will be getting plenty of every else on the trip.

BorisA Thanks Boris for that info. It does sound tempting and if I want to try culatello, that will be a great place for it. But to include both Rigoletto and Locanda Stella d'Oro means I would have to scratch Aquila Nigra and the city of Mantova, which I'm reluctant to do. I'll have to mull this over. Thanks again

Francesco My encounter with. Locanda Stella d'Oro arose for a somewhat complicated reason, a boring story, so I wont regale you with it.The Gamberto Rosso description and rating on it actually sounds pretty good. But now that you have called my attention to Il Rigoletto,it looks like I will follow your lead as I am doing with Arquade. I hadnt realized Reggiolo was right in my path- give or take a few miles- but since it is and since it has just earned a second star, it wouldnt make much sense to bypass it.So with a little schedule revision(a problem because practically every restaurant is closed on Mondays) I can include Rigoletto and drop a less inviting joint and I believe thats what I will do. So onc again I am indebted to you . Now lets just hope these places live up to their credentials! I'm scratching two traditional down-to -earth trattorias for highly creative cuisine-hope its the right course to take.The chief reason is that I'm being accompanied by my daughter who always prefers the elegant to the plain, and I want to keep her happy. Thanks again.

That should read Veronelli, not Vermicelli. :