Taste Cicchetti and good wine in Venice

Cicchetti at Basegò

The art of Cicchetti and good wine in Venice

If there is a place in Venice where I love to taste good wine with cicchetti, is at Basegò.

On an assignment for 2night Venice, I officially visited them a few days ago to taste more of their gorgeous food!

Here is the article I wrote:

Tobia Lenarda, with his sister Samantha, opened this place about three years ago, in Campo San Tomá, near the Frari Church.

Tobia, after a trip to Portugal with his family, fell in love with the Portuguese way of life, still very rooted in tradition and in the sense of community.

So he decided he wanted people to rediscover the same lifestyle here in Venice, coincidentally, just when,  Andar per Bacari (pub crawling), returned to be a ritual, not only for the Venetians, but also for the “foresti”, that is the visitors of the city.

So, armed with a great desire to present his idea of cicchetti, he renovated the old warehouse of an ex-goldsmith’s shop – at the end of the room you can still the safe – turning it into one of the nicest little cicchetti places in Venice: small vertical gardens on the walls and suspended from the ceiling, a skilful use of wood that gives a modern touch, but perfectly in line with the Venetian style.

Basegò

And he did not stop there!

Basegò, the art of Cicchetti and Good Wine

Let’s take a look at the name: Basegò, with the accent on the “o”, which in old Venetian means Basil!

There … this is what you can expect as you walk in: many delicious cicchetti, traditional and innovative, really good wine and a marked cordiality.

A few days ago, I met up with Samantha, who, together with Elio, Gloria, Andrea, Francesco, the young, but very good collaborators, runs the cicchetteria.

By the time she arrived, I had already devoured a nice series of delicious crostini: mortadella and mustard, Gorgonzola pumpkin and walnuts, Brie and orange marmalade, smoked beef and pesto, spicy ventracina and soppressa salame. Diluted with a glass of excellent Ribolla Gialla, a typical white wine from Friuli Venezia Giulia.

I tried to wait, but the appetizers were so inviting that I could not resist.

Samantha tells me:

We are not what one can strictly define as a family-run business, but perhaps more like a familiarly friendly run business establishment!

And all you need are five minutes in the place to understand what she means: a continuous coming and going of Venetians – gondoliers, professionals, students – who enter, greet each other, talk together, laugh, tease one another, eat and drink!

Quality Food in Venice

Samantha is keen to tell me that in addition to the warm and informal environment, they pay close attention to the selection of products, with an eye to high quality, especially from Italian excellence, with a strong preference for the producers of the Triveneto (Veneto, Friuli and Trentino Alto Adige).

And this also happens in the choice of wines: always looking for small wine makers and particular wines, to be offered both to regular customers and to the tourists passing through.

The wine of the moment is the Santa Pazienza, from Friuli Venezia Giulia.

In contrast with the fashion from the other bacari, Basegò does not offer the classic “ombra”.

The reason? Simple: they focus on the quality of wine, not the quantity!

Prosecco Sospeso

Another thing that makes this special bacaro: the suspended Prosecco!

Borrowed from the Neapolitan tradition of the caffè sospeso (suspended coffee), where the consumption of a cup of coffee is given to the benefit of a stranger, here instead a beautiful glass Prosecco is left as a gift!

Do you want to feel a little Venetian?  Stop by at Basegò, taste a “cicchetto” with a nice glass of wine, talk with the locals, relax in one of the nicest campi (square) in Venice!

Just like in the old osterie of the past times!

Just like Tobia, I think, imagined his ideal cicchetteria!

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