_delle cinque
terre_, and in some of the cellars you will find them dating back sixty
years or more.

Venice

The city on the lagoons is the next town to be considered, for Verona
has scarcely a cuisine of its own, and Padua sends its best food to the
Venetian market, and its Bagnoli wine as well. The Restaurant Quadri, on
the north side of the Piazza of St. Mark, is one of the best-known
restaurants in Europe, and it is not expensive, for one can breakfast
there well enough for 4 francs.

A gourmet of my acquaintance thus describes a typical breakfast at the
Quadri. "When you go to the restaurant do not be induced to go upstairs
where the tourists are generally invited, but take a little table on the
ground floor, where you can see all the piazza life, and begin with a
_Vermouth Amaro_, in lieu of a "cocktail." For _hors-d'oeuvre_ have
some small crabs, cold, mashed up with _Sauce Tartare_, and perhaps a
slice or two of _Presciuto Crudo_, raw ham cut as thin as
cigarette-paper. After this a steaming _Risotto_, with _Scampe_,
somewhat resembling gigantic prawns. Some cutlets done in Bologna style,
a thin slice of ham on top and hot Parmesan and grated white truffles
and _Fegato alla Veneziana_ complete the repast, except for a slice of
Strachino cheese. A bottle of Val Policella is exactly suited to this
kind of repast, and a glass of fine-champagne (De Luze) for yourself and
of ruby-coloured Alkermes for the lady, if your wife accompanies you,
makes a good ending. The _maitre-d'hotel_, who looks like a retired
ambassador, will be interested in you directly he finds that you know
how a man should breakfast."

The restaurant which comes next in order in popularity with visitors is
the Bauer-Grunwald, in the Via Ventidue Marzo, which has a garden with
seats in it; but this is a German house, and can scarcely claim to
represent anything Venetian. The Capello Nero, in the Merceria, behind
the Piazza of St. Mark, is thoroughly Venetian and unpretentious, and
there you may obtain the real cookery of the town; and another such
_trattoria_ attached to an hotel is the Cavalletto, by the Ponte
Cavalletto, close to the great square; but the Venetian cookery, it
should be thoroughly understood, is not eaten in Parisian surroundings.

At the Florian Cafe, which in the summer keeps open all the night
through, one gets the frothing _Zabajone_ made so stiff that a spoon
stands upright in it.

There are many _birrerie_ in Veni