Restaurant review:
Pizzeria Al Faro
NOTE: This restaurant closed early in 1998, reportedly because its lease expired
and the landlord demanded a huge rent increase. I've left the review in place
for nostalgia buffs and because
reviews of other Venetian restaurants point to the map with directions on page 2.
In
a city where pizzerias are a lira a dozen, the Pizzeria-Trattoria Al Faro in
Venice's Cannaregio district has a unique claim to fame: Its thin-crust pizzas are baked
in a traditional wood-burning oven as you watch.
The dining room, while comfortable, isn't noted for its
atmosphere. The rectangular room has bright lighting, a '60s or '70s modern decor with
nondescript wood paneling, long banks of cloth-covered tables, and a scattering of plates
and prints on the walls. Still, perhaps that's as it should be, since the center of
attention is the area where a hard-working chef assembles pizzas with the grace of an
artist. He spins balls of fresh dough into plate-size disks beneath the heel of his hand,
then scoops up mounds of mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and other ingredients to scatter
across the finished crusts. Seconds later, your pizza is being thrust into a flaming oven
with a wooden peel, to be retrieved after you've had time for an appetizer: say, a mixed
salad or a plate of crisp hot patate frite (French fries).
Several dozen pizzas are listed on the menu. I like the pizza
verdure ai ferri, which augments the basic cheese and tomato with fresh peppers (red,
green, and yellow) and paper-thin slices of zucchini and eggplant. But there are plenty of
other good choices, including the Juli (named after Juli Van Zyverden,
an American resident of Cannaregio). The average pizza costs 8,000 to 10,000 lire, which is typical of
Venetian budget restaurants.
Pizzas aren't the only items worth sampling. The
piping-hot lasagne, with its creamy sauce, is a great warmup course on a chilly
evening, and the whole grilled sole is prepared with a commendable simplicity. The pasta
dishes are also said to be excellent, although I didn't try them during my three visits to
Al Faro.
Be sure to leave room for dessert. I recommend the lemon
cake, which is baked in Al Faro's wood-burning oven, but it can be hard to make a decision
when you're faced with the tempting choices on the dessert table near the entrance.
And finally, remember to tip the exceptionally competent
and friendly service staff! (The modest 1,500-lire coperto, or cover charge, is a
standard supplement for linen and silverware in Italian sit-down restaurants and shouldn't
be confused with a service charge or compulsory gratuity.)
How to reach Al Faro
ABOVE: From the P. Guglie-Ghetto vaporetto stop on the
Cannaregio Canal, walk through the passageway at the left side of the photo. Al Faro is
just up ahead.
Al Faro is located in the Ghetto Vecchio ("Old
Ghetto"), just up the Cannaregio Canal from the Ponte delle Guglie. You can print out
a map with
directions and take it on your trip for convenience in finding the restaurant. (Note:
The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays.)
| 
Durant
& Cheryl
Imboden's
