there is something of a Parisian touch about this part
of the restaurant. Behind are other rooms all white.
Nowhere in Venice can you taste the scampi , prawns
three times the size of British ones, fried to greater
perfection, each one of them forming a delicious
mouthful. And nowhere in Venice are the octopi,
one of the standing dishes of the town, better cooked.
Their tentacles are so tender that they seem to melt
in the mouth, and, if their bodies are a little tough,
there is no more need to eat an octopus’ body in
Venice than there is to eat the beard of an oyster in
England. Some of the waiters at the Cappelo can
speak French. The lunch of the day is at two prices,
1. 2.50 and 3.50, and there are dinners at 1. 4 and 5.
The card of the day is mostly printed, and therefore
it is not so difficult to order a simple meal as it is
when the paper thrust before one is a confused mass
of scribbles in violet ink. I have lunched there on
maccaroni, with tomato sauce and Parmesan, and
scampi , which is always the most expensive dish on
the bill of fare, on Lodigiano cheese, honeycombed
and tasting like old Cheshire, on half a flask of Chianti,
and some fruit, and my bill came to about four shil-
lings. The very old Chianti at 1. 4.50 a bottle is a
splendid wine, and the Conegliano at this restaurant
is to be highly recommended. Signor Cesare Novati
is the proprietor and manager of the Cappelo Nero.
The Cavaletto, a white building on a canal close to
the Ponte Cavaletto, can be reached by water, and it
Cavaletto, is pleasant to swing from under the
Ponte Cavaletto bridge, and to be steered by a sweep of
the gondolier’s oar up to the marble steps with their
brass rail, which lead to one of the entrances into the
restaurant. The other entrance is from a narrow
alley. There are two large rooms in the Cavaletto,
with the entrance to the hotel between them. The
biggest of these rooms, low-ceilinged and supported by
Italy 247
little pillars, is decorated in cream and light green.
The place is quite Venetian without being Venetian
to excess. There is always a bustle in the big room,
and the little boys who serve the wine scuttle about
like lamplighters. The lunch of the day, of fish,
meat, a paste dish, cheese, and fruit, costs 1. 2.50, and
an ample dinner is provided at 1. 3.50. A lunch of
fried cuttle-fish, a Venetian dish of a big veal cutlet
and rice, some cheese, half a bottle of red Val Policella,
with a little effervescence in it, and a half bottle of
Nocera table water, and my bill for this was 1. 4.50,
the expensive item being the wine.
Page 135
Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
there is something of a Parisian touch about this part of the restaurant. Behind are other rooms all white. Nowhere in Venice can you taste the scampi , prawns three times the size of British ones, fried to greater perfection, each one of them forming a delicious mouthful. And nowhere in Venice are the octopi, one of the standing dishes of the town, better cooked. Their tentacles are so tender that they seem to melt in the mouth, and, if their bodies are a little tough, there is no more need to eat an octopus’ body in Venice than there is to eat the beard of an oyster in England. Some of the waiters at the Cappelo can speak French. The lunch of the day is at two prices, 1. 2.50 and 3.50, and there are dinners at 1. 4 and 5. The card of the day is mostly printed, and therefore it is not so difficult to order a simple meal as it is when the paper thrust before one is a confused mass of scribbles in violet ink. I have lunched there on maccaroni, with tomato sauce and Parmesan, and scampi , which is always the most expensive dish on the bill of fare, on Lodigiano cheese, honeycombed and tasting like old Cheshire, on half a flask of Chianti, and some fruit, and my bill came to about four shillings. The very old Chianti at 1. 4.50 a bottle is a splendid wine, and the Conegliano at this restaurant is to be highly recommended. Signor Cesare Novati is the proprietor and manager of the Cappelo Nero.
The Cavaletto, a white building on a canal close to the Ponte Cavaletto, can be reached by water, and it Cavaletto, is pleasant to swing from under the
Ponte Cavaletto bridge, and to be steered by a sweep of the gondolier’s oar up to the marble steps with their brass rail, which lead to one of the entrances into the restaurant. The other entrance is from a narrow alley. There are two large rooms in the Cavaletto, with the entrance to the hotel between them. The biggest of these rooms, low-ceilinged and supported by
Italy 247
little pillars, is decorated in cream and light green. The place is quite Venetian without being Venetian to excess. There is always a bustle in the big room, and the little boys who serve the wine scuttle about like lamplighters. The lunch of the day, of fish, meat, a paste dish, cheese, and fruit, costs 1. 2.50, and an ample dinner is provided at 1. 3.50. A lunch of fried cuttle-fish, a Venetian dish of a big veal cutlet and rice, some cheese, half a bottle of red Val Policella, with a little effervescence in it, and a half bottle of Nocera table water, and my bill for this was 1. 4.50, the expensive item being the wine.