Trattoria Ai Cugnai ★★

Trattoria Ai Cugnai ★★
Calle Nuova Sant'Agnese 857, Dorsoduro
Vaporetto: Accademia (head east of bridge and Accademia in direction of Guggenheim Collection; on straight street connecting two museums, the restaurant is on your right).
tel. +39-041-528-9238
Closed Monday
€€€

• Accademia ★★★
• Grand Canal ★★★
• Peggy Guggenheim ★★
• Squero di San Trovaso
• Santa Maria della Salute

• RR Hotel Galleria ★★ [€€]
• RR Hotel Pensione Accademia ★★ [€€]
• Hotel Palazzo Guardi [€€]
• Hotel Ca' Centopietre [€€]
  » More hotels in Dorsoduro from Booking.com
  »

• Enoteca Cantinone Già Schiavi ★ [quick]

• Book ahead: Great Venetian restaurants are few and far between—and everybody knows about them. It pays to reserve your table, at least at dinner. I find that a corollary of Murphy's Law seems to apply. If you prudently book ahead, you are likely to show up to a half-empty restaurant and feel a bit like a fool for having worried about finding a table. If, on the other hand, you just show up at the door expecting to find a free table, the place will inevitably be packed and its bookings full for the evening. For restaurants that I am truly eager to try, I go ahead and book.

• "Pane e coperto" is not a scam: Nearly all Italian restaurants have an unavoidable pane e coperto ("bread and cover" charge) of anything from €1 to €15—though most often €2 to €5—per person that is automatically added onto your bill. This is perfectly normal and perfectly legal (though a few trendy restaurants make a big deal about not charging it).
• Find out if service (tip) is included: Don't double-tip by accident. If the menu has a line—usually near the bottom of the front or back—that says "servizio" with either a percentage, an amount, or the word "incluso" after it, that means the tip is automatically included in the price. (If it says "servizio non incluso," tip is, obviously, not included.)
  
  Even if the menu doesn't say it, ask É incluso il servizio? (ay een-CLOU-so eel sair-VEET-zee-yo)—"Is service included?" If not, tip accordingly (10%–15% is standard).
  
  Don't be stingy about tipping, though. If il servizio is, indeed, already included but the service was particularly good, it's customary to round up the bill or leave €1 per person extra—just to show you noticed and that you appreciated the effort.
• Tourist menus: The concept of a bargain prix-fixe menu is not popular in Italy. Some restaurants do offer a menu turistico ("tourist menu"), which can cost from €8 to €20 and usually entails a choice from among two or three basic first courses (read: different pasta shapes, all in plain tomato sauce), a second course of roast chicken or a veal cutlet, and some water or wine and bread. With very few exceptions, tourist menus tend to live up to their name, appearing only at the sort of tourist-pandering restaurants that the locals wisely steer clear of.
  
  However, a menu à prezzo fisso ("fixed-price menu") is often a pretty good deal, usually offering a bit more choice than a tourist menu.
  
  Then—especially at nicer (and pricier) restaurants—there is the menu degustazione ("tasting menu"), usually far more expensive (anywhere from €25 to €110) that is a showcase of the chef's best, or of regional specialties, and can make for an excellent way to sample the kitchen's top dishes.
• Book ahead: For restaurants that I am truly eager to try, I go ahead and book a table—at least at dinner. I find that a corollary of Murphy's Law seems to apply. If you prudently book ahead, you are likely to show up to a half-empty restaurant and feel a bit like a fool for having worried about finding a table. If, on the other hand, you just show up at the door expecting to find a free table, the place will inevitably be packed and its bookings full for the evening.

• Walks & Seminars
• Rialto Market Walk
• Small Group Cicchetti & Wine Tasting
• Cicchetti of Venice Tour
• Cicchetti of Venice - Small Group Tour
• Cicchetti and Wine Tour of Venice’s Jewish Ghetto
• Padua Market Walk (daytrip)

• Special meals
• Annotated Dinner: an Evening of Venetian Cusine
• Veneto Wine and Dinner Pairing in Venice
• Annotated Lunch in Padova: Cuisine of the Veneto (daytrip)
• Cicchetti of Venice Tour
• Small Group Cicchetti & Wine Tasting
• Cicchetti of Venice - Small Group Tour
• Venice Gondola Ride and Serenade with Dinner

• Cooking classes
• Learn to Cook a Venetian Meal
• Cooking Lesson on a Vintage Boat in the Venetian Lagoon

• Wine tastings
• Wine Tasting: Wines of Venice and the Veneto
• Evening Wine Tasting Experience in Venice
• Wines of the Doges - Wine Tasting in Venice
• Small Group Cicchetti & Wine Tasting
• Cicchetti and Wine Tour of Venice’s Jewish Ghetto
• Cicchetti of Venice Tour

• Vineyard visits
• Veneto Small-Group Wine Tasting Tour (daytrip)
• Valpolicella Day Trip from Venice: Wine Tasting and Verona (daytrip)
• Veneto: The Land of Prosecco (daytrip)
• Winery Visit and Lunch at Castello di Roncade (daytrip)
• Private Verona, Garda Lake and Venice Wine Tour of the Valpolicella Area with its Amarone Wine from Venice (daytrip)
• Taste of Northern Italy: Food & Wine in Valpolicella (daytrip)
• Private Wine Tour of the Soave Area from Venice (daytrip)
• Private Wine Tour of the Prosecco and Cartizze Area from Venice
(daytrip)
• Bassano del Grappa Cultural Excursion (daytrip)
• Private Wine Tasting in the DOC Zone (daytrip)

• Basic phrases (below)
• Italian dishes, cooking terms, & menu vocab