Eating & Drinking in Vicenza
Updated: Sep 2
A food guide from Villa San Bastiano Fogazzaro
Vicenza is a wonderful food destination, particularly if you are interested in genuine regional cooking rather than a tour of the familiar “Italian greatest hits”.
The cooking here is earthy, agricultural and closely connected to the surrounding countryside: polenta, slow-cooked meats, thick handmade pasta, salumi - charcuterie, mountain cheeses, seasonal vegetables and some excellent local wines. And when it comes to food, the province surrounding Vicenza matters almost as much as the city itself.
Our advice is simple: eat locally, order things you may not recognise, and allow at least one meal to be devoted entirely to Vicentine cooking.
The dish you really must try is Bacalà alla Vicentina - If there is one dish that belongs unmistakably to Vicenza, this is it.
Confusingly, despite the name, it is not made with the salted cod that Italians usually call baccalà. This Vicentine dish uses dried stockfish — stoccafisso — which is soaked and then cooked very slowly with onions, milk, olive oil and anchovies until wonderfully tender, rich and almost creamy. It is traditionally served with soft or grilled polenta.
The Vicentini take their bacalà very seriously indeed.
In 1987, the “Venerabile Confraternita del Bacalà alla Vicentina” was founded in nearby Sandrigo to preserve the traditional recipe and encourage restaurants to prepare it properly. The organisation maintains a network of approved restaurants committed to serving the dish according to its established tradition. We will explore this and other suggestions in future chapters.
Rather than ordering bacalà at the first tourist restaurant you encounter, we suggest making this one of your deliberately chosen meals.
Among the restaurants recognised by the Confraternita are:
Via Battaglione Valtellina 138, Vicenza. A good choice for traditional Vicentine cooking and particularly appropriate if bacalà is the purpose of the meal.
Piazza del Duomo 3, Vicenza. An informal Vicenza institution in an exceptionally convenient central location.
In Costabissara, just outside Vicenza. A worthwhile excursion if you want the atmosphere of a traditional trattoria rather than a city-centre restaurant.
Another long-established option outside the historic centre.
All four appear in the Confraternita's selected restaurant network. As opening days can change, particularly around holidays, we recommend checking before making a special journey.
Have lunch from a “gastronomia", an Italian deli.
One of our favourite Italian food experiences doesn't require a formal restaurant at all.
A gastronomia is somewhere between a delicatessen, prepared-food shop and takeaway. You'll usually find counters and trays filled with whatever has been cooked that day — vegetables, pasta, meat dishes, cheeses, charcuteries and regional specialities. Most good supermarkets have a gastronomia section which is normally rather good.
Have a look, point at whatever appeals to you and assemble a picnic or an entire meal to bring back to the Villa.
In central Vicenza, we particularly recommend “Il Ceppo Gastronomia e Bistrot”, at Corso Andrea Palladio 196, very close to the beautiful church of Santa Corona, just a stone’s throw from the Teatro Olimpico and Palazzo Chiericati. Il Ceppo has been part of Vicenza's food scene since 1971 and is particularly well known for its bacalà. There is both a gastronomia and a bistrot, so it works equally well for buying things to take home or stopping for lunch.
We like going around lunchtime, seeing what has been prepared that day and choosing several small things rather than automatically ordering something familiar.
What else should you look for? There is much more to Vicentine cooking than bacalà?
Look out for sopressa vicentina, the local soft, generously flavoured salami, delicious with grilled polenta.
Then there are bigoli, the thick strands of pasta characteristic of the Veneto. One of the
classic local preparations is bigoli all'arna — above, bigoli with a duck ragù — although you'll find them with other meat sauces and, one of our favourite,
the deliciously tangy “bigoli in salsa”, above, with onions and anchovy.
Seasonal “risotti” are well worth ordering, as are local cheeses from the province and the Asiago plateau.
The wider Vicentino area has its own wonderfully specific ingredients and dishes. Depending on the season, you may encounter
the famous white asparagus of Bassano, above, delicious with eggs, hard boiled and smashed or fried
Here are the lovely peas from Lumignano,
or the beautiful trout from the Valdastico,
and toresani, above, — young pigeons particularly associated with Breganze, delicious with grilled polenta.
The important thing is to follow the seasons. If a waiter tells you that something local has just arrived, that's usually what you should order.
Buon appetito — and don't be afraid to ask us where we would eat today.
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