The restaurants below combine regionality with inventiveness and skill, wine lists are well-chosen, prices are good value, and service is hospitable. 

 

SAN CASCIANO VAL DE PESA (TUSCANY)

 

IL CAVALIERE,

CASTELLO DI GABBIANO

Castello di Gabbiano is the real thing, though that’s easy enough in Tuscany—a 12^th century castle, lightly renovated, simple but attractive—with the regulation  spectacular view of steep hillsides swathed in vines. Aside from being a hotel, it’s also a winery (the colorful cavalier on horseback on the wine labels will be familiar to Chianti drinkers), with a tasting room, gift shop, and restaurant. The whole enterprise is somewhat modest, plain and slightly rustic, but as it’s only 10 miles south of Florence, just into the Chianti Classico zone, it makes a good base for touring the area. Cooking classes are also offered. The restaurant, Il Cavaliere, is a converted farmhouse, a small stone building a short walk away, through the vineyards, in a lovely setting. The food, quite good, is what might be called aspirational Tuscan: carpaccio of smoked goose with fava bean salad, seasonal-vegetable risotto in a parmesan-cheese basket, chicken-liver ravioli in saffron sauce, rack of lamb with a vibrant sauce made from reduced Rosé with herbs. The wine list is Italian but wide-ranging and reasonably priced. Outside-terrace dining in good weather.

Ristorante il Cavaliere, Castello Gabbiano, San Casciano Val de Pesa, Tuscany. Tel: +39 055 821 8423. (For winery tours or help with reservations, call +39 055 821 8082).(www.gabbiano.com)

Open April-December, Tuesday through Sunday.

 

 

LUCCA

 

BUCA DI SAN ANTONIO

This ancient (1782) restaurant is Lucca’s best, and best-known. The decor is charmingly eccentric, with battered copper cookpots and musical instruments hanging from the ceiling, and architectural prints on the walls. It’s crowded, always bustling. The good news is that the waiters speak English and are very patient about explaining the long menu. The bad news is that they also speak German, French, and are probably learning Japanese, as the world seems to show up here. (The locals still predominate, though—this is where Lucca’s elite meet to eat.) Best strategy: Reserve a table as far in advance as possible, and for as early an hour as possible, It’s worth it—much of the food is traditional and unusual, such as puff-pastry tarts filled with spicy chickpea puree or wild mushrooms (tortina di funghi), or tordelli (pillowy pasta stuffed with beef, pork, sausage and various greens, seasoned with nutmeg), pasta with pigeon or hare sauce, or guinea hen braised with raisins. There’s a wide range of grilled meats, a Tuscan specialty, and desserts are fabulous. The wine list is encyclopedic, very well chosen, not limited to Tuscany.

Buca di San Antonio, Via della Cervia 1-3, Lucca. Tel: +39 0583 5581

Open Tuesday-Sunday lunch, Tuesday-Saturday dinner. Reservations essential

 

VENICE

 

VECIO FRITOLIN

A couple of centuries ago, many restaurants in Venice offered deep-fried fish right off the boat, as a cheap and easy take-away. At this attractive, cozy but not cramped restaurant, there is still a dish of frittura di pesce, a mix of various fried fish, and as good as it gets in Venice, but there’s a lot more, all fresh, expertly cooked. Much of the daily-changing fish is grilled, with imaginative vegetables (broccoli flan, zucchini marinated with basil, radicchio and tomato confit, for example). Start with a plate of salt-cod quenelles and sweet-and-sour shrimp on polenta, followed by baked sea bass with fennel cream and olives, or a salad of crunchy mantis shrimp with artichokes and then a dramatic presentation of lobster and eggplant tossed with pasta made with squid ink. The pasta and excellent bread are made on-site. The wine list is well-chosen and long, a showcase of Veneto and especially Friuli specialties, quite reasonably priced. Irrepressibly cheerful owner Irina Freguia is usually on hand to advise, explain, and encourage; she's hospitality in person. (She also operates the splendid café at the Palazzo Grassi museum, on the canal in San Marco.)

Vecio Fritolin, Calle della Regina (Rialto) 2262—actually in the Santa Croce district, near Campo San Cassiano; telephone +39 041 522 2881. (www.veciofritolin.it)

Open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner, closed Monday. Reservations essential.

 

OSTERIA ALLE TESTIERE

Very small (10 tables), slightly cramped, thoroughly informal, very cheery, welcoming, popular with locals, and my personal favorite. The variety of inventive dishes emerging from the tiny kitchen is astonishing–baked clams with ginger, grilled razor clams with garlic, crunchy sauteed baby shrimp in their shells on creamy polenta, grilled vegetables in a tangy wine sauce, and a variety of perfectly grilled fish; the menu, which is recited by the waiter, changes every day. The wine list is broad and carefully chosen, with a rotating selection of nine fine wines available by the glass or medium or large carafes.

Osteria alle Testiere, Calle del Mondo Novo 5801, Castello. Tel & fax: +39 041 522-7220.

Open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. Reservations essential.

 

RISTORANTE DA IVO

Another favourite, cozy, with whimsical decor and friendly service, notably welcoming; overall, the atmosphere is charming and romantic. There are some Tuscan specialties, like imaginative crostini, grilled game, and Chianina beef, but the Venetian seafood specialties are also sublime: baby shrimp on polenta, soft-shell crab, black cuttlefish-ink risotto, and perfectly filleted fish with vegetable sauces, like John Dory with tomato and olives, or turbot and artichokes in wine sauce. Desserts are simple but delicious. The wine list is extensive, and staff are quite knowledgeable.

Ristorante da Ivo, Ramo dei Fuseri 1809, San Marco. Tel: +39 041 528-5004.

Open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, closed in January. Reservations essential.

 

FIASCHETTERIA TOSCANA

Despite its name, this very popular two-floor restaurant is thoroughly Venetian–gnocchi with scampi so light they almost float off the plate, wholewheat spaghetti with duck sauce, John Dory fillets with a sharp caper sauce, sea bass with clam sauce, turbot baked with cardoons, and frittura della Serenissima, a platter of lightly battered and fried fish and vegetables, rather like tempura on steroids; leave room for the rich ice-cream cassata on dense raspberry coulis. The wine list is all-Italian and quite encyclopedic, with an abundance of  very good values.

Fiaschetteria Toscana, San Giovanni Crisostomo 5719, Cannaregio. Tel: +39 041 528-5281.

Open Wednesday through Monday for lunch and dinner. Reservations essential.