S4 Ep.16 - The Drinking Culture of Venice - A chat with Susan L. Schwartz

An alcoholic letter.

Listen, first of all, I mean, having done the book on Cicchetti, I totally understand you.

The toll it takes to research a book when it's about food and drinks.

And I think on drinks is even worse because on food, okay, you can just, whatever.

But when it's drinks, hey, you got to go for it.

You say four years.

Four years at the end of the day is not that long.

It took me 10 for my other books, so it's fine.

But what was the, let's say, Not so much the artist, but the most interesting thing that you discovered about the drinking lifestyle of Venice.

What was the, oh boy.

Well, the drinking lifestyle.

What did I discover? Well, I guess my favorite thing to discover were all these little tiny places where people drink in Venice that I really, as a tourist, you just don't see.

And I'm talking maybe about the smaller wine bars, the vino sfuso, which, you know, you definitely don't see here.

Now that's, for those who might not know, that's the wine that's sold not in bottles, but like in baskets, kind of you see it in baskets.

It means loose wine.

Yeah.

and that people can bring in like a bottle and just have it filled that culture i think i never realized it even existed as a tourist and these tiny places that are like in canarejo or you know in san marco i love the guys and they who who do it there and then near the the train station there's a place yeah i loved and near you know all over the city they're dotted around these tiny places where, and they're open, they start at nine o'clock in the morning and there are people there drinking wine or, you know, so early in the morning.

Or

filling.

And what I think is the most interesting thing for foreigners, not for me, I grew up on that.

So for me, it's like, yeah, that's how we do it, you know, but is that you see the old lady is turning up with her empty bottle of one and a half liter, two liters of, plastic bottle of water empty and they fill it up with the wine and take it back home and a couple of days later they're back there again you know

a hundred percent i love that even places as i can hear you sweetie can you hear me yeah yeah i can oh sorry i thought you said hello No, no, no.

Go.

So even places that are really famous, like Domori, you can do it.

But it was those tiny little ones just walking around Venice.