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harpy
Jan 4th, 2005, 10:46 AM
Has anyone been in Venice recently and if so did they find any vegan-friendly places to eat? I have hunted on the web and found a couple of likely places mentioned but any more suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks in advance. I will report back after I've been.

DianeVegan
Jun 21st, 2005, 12:09 PM
Harpy,

Have you already been to Venice? If so, please let me know where you ate.

harpy
Jun 21st, 2005, 03:34 PM
Oh, sorry, I forgot to post after we went (back in February) and now it's all gone a bit hazy! We mostly ate snacky things at lunchtime and then had a proper meal in the evening. We weren't that adventurous as all the places we went to had already been written up on the web as veg*n-friendly (so if you Google the places mentioned you'll find more information). Let's see if I can reconstruct where we went:

Antica Birraria La Corte
http://www.anticabirrarialacorte.com/faq.html - just a pizzeria but in a nice building (converted brewery?) and frequented by locals. Various items on the menu were adaptable to vegan requirements. We must have liked it as we went there twice!

Gam Gam http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice-140867/Restaurants-Venice-Gam_Gam-BR-1.html
A Jewish cafe up near the station. The friendly people running it seemed to know what vegans are and be happy to accommodate them - I liked the food very much.

Ganesh http://www.2night.it/2night/venezia/rubrica/news/58699.html An Indian restaurant that is a little hard to find. I suggest you phone up and ask for directions from wherever you are!

Ristorante Cinese Capitol, Castello, 4294 Campo SS. Filippo e Giacomo 30122 Tel/Fax 39-041-522-5331 There are a few Chinese restaurants but this one (near St Mark's) was said to be particularly veggie-friendly - we had a nice meal including their famous stir-fried gnocchi :)

This middle-eastern one looked appealing but we didn't have time to go:
Sahara Tel - 041 721077 Cannaregio 2519, fondamenta de la Misericordia - Venice

The Venetian-style restaurants don't look especially vegan-friendly but I suspect most places that do pizza would do you a cheese-free one, and then there are vegetable antipasti.

Hope you have a good time if you go - and remember to report back ;)

DianeVegan
Jun 21st, 2005, 07:01 PM
Thanks for the quick reply! I haven't had much luck finding information on vegans in Venice. This will be very helpful. And I will report back!

harpy
Jun 22nd, 2005, 02:52 PM
You're welcome - I had to reply quickly before I forgot anything more ;) I probably searched on "vegetarian" rather than "vegan" to find those restaurants, but they all produced food which was at least apparently-vegan.

Enjoy yourself - should be nice and warm if you're going soon. We saw St Mark's in the snow on our last day, an unusual sight apparently

analogcrush
Sep 29th, 2005, 06:48 PM
diana, have you already been to venice? i will probably travel there soon too.

DianeVegan
Sep 30th, 2005, 03:48 AM
Hi Analog,

I'll be there in about one week. I'm currently cruising between Sicily and Pylos (the chef on this cruise has done a fabulous job of vegan cooking). We'll be in the city one night and near the airport another night - so I don't know what all I will have to report. But I'll let you know what I discover!

abrennan
Sep 30th, 2005, 04:45 AM
Hey did I miss that you were going cruising

hope you're having a great time

Antony:D

Gliondrach
Sep 30th, 2005, 10:39 AM
I've gone off the idea of a cruise - ever since learning about the Titanic.

DianeVegan
Oct 11th, 2005, 01:11 AM
Well we just returned from our trip and must report that eating vegan in Venice is a bit tricky. We didn't visit any specifically vegetarian restaurants (I didn't inquire if Venice even has one). Many menus are printed in Italian and English outside the building, especially in the busy areas, so you have an idea before you sit down. Rome was much easier. But the trip is still worth it - beautiful!

abrennan
Oct 11th, 2005, 02:11 AM
Tell us more:D

eve
Oct 11th, 2005, 09:00 AM
That's the same experience I had - just nobody seemed to understand about strict vegetarian - most offered fish! Fortunately I ate at my daughter's place. She was living at Mestre, just outside Venice. It was a surprise to find that there are no cars in Venice, but then the gondolas serve for people who aren't into walking! :)

DianeVegan
Oct 11th, 2005, 10:46 AM
Tell us more:D
I'll tell more later. We came home to the basement flooded and a huge leak by a picture window. I'm dealing with the insurance people this morning. (By my calculations, at the precise time we were watching the high-tide flooding of St. Marks Square, the basement was also flooding).

Got to go - my husband is in the shower screaming about no hot water. Yep, the water heater got flooded too!!

Robert
May 21st, 2007, 06:32 PM
I am contemplating a move to Venice and will be basing myself there for one year from February next year. Am doing my homework already so am wondering what the vegetarian/vegan scene is like there (or in Mestre, Treviso or Padova)?

fiamma
May 21st, 2007, 06:42 PM
I don't think there is a "vegan scene" as such in Italy!

Padua is a university town so you might have more options there, I don't know Venice so I can't be of much help, I'm afraid. Bar food tends to be uninspiring in Italy generally but restaurants normally have various options or the chef is normally willing to veganise things.

I think Italy generally has a lot of choice for vegans, lots of fresh fruit, veg etc, as long as you don't expect lots of processed, ready made burgers etc.
The healthfood shop Naturaś (http://www.naturasi.it/punti-vendita.php#)has branches all over the north.

I think it's a good choice :)

Robert
May 21st, 2007, 07:05 PM
I am much more familiar with Abruzzo, Lazio and Campania and certainly there is no shortage of fresh fruit and veg. I am taking a leap of faith by going to Venice first before heading down the peninsula, but am assuming they will have the same range of produce available, albeit at a higher price perhaps?

Will keep an eye out for the Naturasi stores.

harpy
May 21st, 2007, 08:31 PM
The last time we went to Venice we did quite well for places to eat (think there's an old thread about it somewhere) although there didn't seem to be any actual vegetarian restaurants. Yes it is rather expensive, though as always it's probably less so once you know where to look...

Think if I was going to live around there I might prefer to be on the mainland as Venice is so extremely touristy, but you might not mind that.

Kiran
Jul 12th, 2007, 01:49 PM
We're off to Venice next month on a holiday. :) We're excited, but also worried about the language problem. :o Might try some of the places mentioned in Harpy's post. Also looking into the following.....

http://www.happycow.net/europe/italy/venice/index.html

.

harpy
Jul 12th, 2007, 02:41 PM
That was a while ago, Kiran, so I hope they're still there - evidently the Indian one is! It's not actually that hard to get vegan food in Italy even though they have trouble with the concept sometimes. Hope you have a lovely and well-fed time.

Don't think language is likely to be a problem in Venice where most people seem to speak English - just learn to say hello and thank you in Italian so you can get on the right side of them ;)

Robert
Jul 12th, 2007, 03:24 PM
Great to know this - I am moving to Venice for a year next February!