Looking for niche Venice and Rome recs! The guy making the best cannoli if you turn down this one alleyway, the trims shop with insane silk flowers, the best spot to sit and read a book… Give me your secrets

Question

Ashton Keaton · Answer

Santa Croce 197/e 30135 Venice Italy: Al Bacco Felice - best pesto pasta + aperol spritz + mussels for a decent price. Seemed like a local joint as we walked in off the street just because we were starving. My fav meal of our trip!

Christie · Answer

Giulietta Vino e Cucina (Rome): You’ll feel like you’re dining in someone’s living room. Great vibe, no tourists. Place your order on a notepad and leave it on a side table. I still dream about the onion tarte tatin with Parmesan ice cream.

Mary Grace Granados · Answer

Parco Savello - Giardino degli Aranci: it’s a quiet, magical orange grove and garden in Rome with an incredible view — walk into the church next to it for great tile inspo

JaperMoon · Answer

Visit Cinecittà film studio where Fellini movies were made: Not the theme park by the same name!

There’s a couple small galleries and you can get a walking tour of the sets and soundstages

mercuri lam · Answer

perfume museum venice: so nerdy but was genuinely so cool and cheap to enter and you can smell so many perfumes around the world but also venice and italo specific

mercuri lam · Answer

il pavone stamperia venice: genuinely my friend is working in the panama pavilion this summer and i sent her to buy me another notebook because these are AMAZING!ribbon tie, very well made paper, and lasts FOREVER (mine lasted me a year!)

mercuri lam · Answer

vanda roma: very generous truffle pasta for $20 i still think about every few months… and their wine is great ofc

mercuri lam · Answer

la zucca venice: pumpkin themed restaurant. WOWOWOWOW honestly the best lasagna here my ex who is from trento and I agreed on this. also they just have such cute cards!

mercuri lam · Answer

la sete venice: AMAZING little toast for aperitivo & they give you a shell ashtray 🩷

mercuri lam · Answer

tramae roma: fine dining but the most gorgeous space and their pastas are amazing

mercuri lam · Answer

bacan venice: reviewed this place but very shockingly amazing mezcal cocktails and food! latin american must try

Jes · Answer

Neve di Latte Gelateria Naturale: My favorite gelato shop, but more importantly, this will put you on my favorite street in Rome. Excellent shops, restaurants, wine bars all along here

Madge Home · Answer

da enzo! pasta in rome— they serve cocktails while you wait in line (not thaaaat niche but thaaaaaaaat good)

Hot Tip · Answer

Hollywood tutto sul Cinema: Great shop for Italian movie posters and DVDs in Rome! The owner is adorable.

Casson · Answer

La Tavernaccia da Bruno: While not unknown to tourists, this place definitely is traditional and full of locals. Gets crowded so either reserve or be willing to wait. The alla Gricia was decadent and delicious.

Jessica Menda · Answer

Niche Shops: Venice, Italy: I did a post on a couple of places you might like!

Maribeth · Answer

perlamadre jewelry shop: Simona is an imaginative Venetian jewelry maker who creates beautiful pieces from Murano glass, right there in her charming shop in a wonderfully artistic area in Venice. She is warm and welcoming and incredibly chic and her work is beautiful and she’ll happily help you try things on. Wonderful experience shopping at perlamadre.

Yaymie Jamie · Answer

Museo Fortuny: The former family home of Mariano Fortuny turned museum in 1975. It’s art, stunning textiles, theatrical marvels, an atelier…and a mirror with little cat paws on it that I’m plotting a tattoo of. The gift shop is also so thoughtful and lovely.

Michael Bolognino · Answer

Querini Stampalia Foundation - Venice: A smaller, more intimate museum. Come for the art, stay for the hidden Carlo Scarpa garden.

More on that below:

The restoration by Carlo Scarpa was based on a combination of new and old features and his great skill in the use of materials. He mainly used water as a central decorative element, which in fact came from the canal that overlooks the building, and entered the building through bulkheads that run along the interior walls to reach a large tank layered with copper, concrete, and mosaic, and a small canal at the ends of which there are two labyrinths carved in alabaster and Istria stone. On the wall, you can see a mosaic weaving in Murano glass, designed by Mario de Luigi.

Katherine · Answer

Ca’ del Sol: A spectacular mask shop in Venice where many of the masks are hand-made by the owner - I believe they also have mask-making workshops and rent out costumes for Carnevale!

I came here with a group of friends after studying Commedia dell’Arte in Florence and we all bought masks to commemorate the experience, I love hanging them on my wall as unconventional art.

flat · Answer

roma: less a specific rec and more a specific approach

look for restaurants where italians are gathered, maybe even spilling onto the street. there will be no guy trying to sell you food with menu in hand, and might be only 1-2 blocks away from a main road

I do recommend ending the meal with a glass of amaro 🥃

Tracy · Answer

La Bottega del Marmoraro: This quaint little shop is owned by a third-generation engraver. He hand-engraves marble tiles and plaques with quotes and sayings.  You can customize your own or purchase what he has already made. I recommend this as your first stop of the day so you can pick your treasures up the same day.

Nora · Answer

Pizza Al Volo, Venice: A no-frills but utterly delicious pizza joint. Get a slice in the shape of a “sail” versus a more New York style slice as you amble through the piazza. Nothing better.

Nat · Answer

Ruma: The family here owns a farm where the majority of the cheeses and meats are produced. Small plates, perfect charcuterie, delicious wines, friendliest staff. And oh my god, the gelato!!! I returned here multiple times because I couldn’t stop thinking about the gelato haha. I got the buffalo & pistachio combo… divine!

Vanessa · Answer

Bacareto da Lele, Venice: Small sandwiches 1,40€

Beer or wine 1,30€

Have a few while people-watching then have pinchos and Aperol next door.

bradshaw · Answer

monuments at midnight: go see all the sights in the middle of the night. not 10pm, like actually the middle of the night. eating gelato and giggling with my mom while literally sitting on the edge of the trevi fountain may have changed my whole life. DO IT.

also if you don’t trust me, trust dua lipa. check her most recent post she gets it

Kathleen Jordan · Answer

Teatro San Carlino: Possibly too niche because it’s geared towards children, but I lived in Rome for almost a year making a TV show, and my husband and I would take our then-two-year-old to puppet shows here, smack dab in the middle of Borghese park. They are loud and funny and creepy and uncensored and just very not an experience an American child is used to. 10/10.

Hallie · Answer

Small Caps Venezia: I stumbled upon this little spot on an aimless, ambling walk and I left with what are now three of my favorite pieces of art in my house. Numbered screen prints are vibrant and vivid,  sometimes cheeky and even political.

Hallie · Answer

Piedàterre Venezia (Venice): Get a pair of the classic and chic velvet smoking slippers. Get another if you’re torn between sensible and bright/fun/whimsical. Get an extra pair or two for friends and family because they make fantastic gifts and pack easily.

Loose Links · Answer

Lido di Venezia: Take the Vaporetto to the Lido, rent a bike and ride south past the beach clubs to beautiful, deserted beaches with clear, calm, warm water.

Vicki · Answer

Antica  Osteria da Gino: Charming, old-school Italian restaurant in Castello. (it’s close to the Arsenale if you are hitting up the Biennale). Classic seafood and good service.

Meez Stephanie · Answer

Scuola Grande di San Rocco: If you love huge dramatic paintings, this is a must-see. I've been here twice during the tourist season. It was cool and there were no crowds or queues. As you enter you can get a mirror to view the ceilings, which are festooned with Tintoretto paintings. Amazing stuff and a nice break from the crowded alleys.

Sabrina · Answer

Osteria Al Sacro E Profano: This place is great. Right by the Rialto bridge which is overrun with tourists but hidden away enough to feel like you’ve escaped.

Brigid · Answer

So2 Vini Naturali: Sharing some of my own favorites as well! This is a perfect wine bar.

Sophia Lucchesi · Answer

Busa alla torre di lele: This is the type of place where you say “make me what you feel like cooking today” and are rewarded with a world class meal while sitting on a plastic chair. Perfection.

Alexandra Clark · Answer

Olivetti Showroom by Carlo Scarpa: So worth stopping by if you visit the Piazza San Marco… so beautiful