Tonight's dinner was at Alla Testiere, by far my favorite restaurant in Venice. It's a tiny place, maybe four tables, and the decor is simple, typical Italian cafe. It's also almost impossible to find. The food is great, typical Venetian seafood done with a flair that was lacking in the other restaurants. But the real reason this restaurant stands out is the owners, one of whom cooks and the other works the room. The roomworker does a fanstastic job and is immediately everybody's friend, not in the fake waiter way, where they ask how you are, state their name and their function as today's server, and push some drinks on you. This guy really makes you feel like your best friends without being cloying and intrusive or stereotypically loud Italian. Everyone in the little room is put in a great mood, and it feels like a real celebration. One drawback of the small size and festive environment is that it's hard to get people to leave. So, when we arrived our table wasn't free yet, so he walked us down the street to a nearby bar to wait for fifteen minutes, and watched a little soccer with us as well. (Food-15, Decor-11, Service-20)



By the way, the photos came from the helpful Gastroville website, as we're never going to get comfortable taking photos in restaurants.