Cantina Do Mori: Ombra and Cicchetti at the Counter
Why is it significant?
Find a narrow alley and a low doorway, and step into a dark, wood-lined room where copper pots hang from the ceiling and there are no chairs at all. People drink standing at the long counter, shoulder to shoulder, a small glass of wine in one hand and something on a toothpick in the other.
Key Facts
| Place | Cantina Do Mori: Ombra and Cicchetti at the Counter |
|---|---|
| Address | Calle dei Do Mori, San Polo 429, 30125 Venezia VE, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 45.43900, 12.33400 |
| Part of Walk | Fish, Wine and Cicchetti: Venice's Rialto Markets and the Bacari of San Polo |
| Generated | Generated |
Find a narrow alley and a low doorway, and step into a dark, wood-lined room where copper pots hang from the ceiling and there are no chairs at all. People drink standing at the long counter, shoulder to shoulder, a small glass of wine in one hand and something on a toothpick in the other.
This is the Cantina Do Mori, and tradition says it has been serving wine since 1462, which would make it one of the oldest bars in Venice. Nobody can show you the first receipt, but the room feels old enough to believe it, and tradition even places Giacomo Casanova among its customers. The name means the two Moors, and as with so much in Venice, nobody quite agrees which two.
This is a bacaro, the Venetian wine bar, and the rules are simple. You order an ombra, a small glass of wine, and ombra means shade. Legend says the wine sellers in Saint Mark's Square used to move their stalls through the day to stay in the shadow of the bell tower, so going for a shade came to mean going for a glass.
With the wine come the cicchetti, little bites laid out on the counter like jewels in a shop window. Bread with baccalà, folded slices of mortadella, half an egg with an anchovy, meatballs called polpette fried while you wait, a rolled sardine. You eat one or two, you pay, you move on. A Venetian evening is not one long dinner but a giro d'ombre, a slow wander from bar to bar, with a glass and a bite in each.
The secret is the pace: never sit, never stay too long, and always greet the person behind the counter. Do that twice and you will be treated like a regular. Then come back out and head west through the calli and over a small bridge to Campo San Cassiano, where Venice invented a new way to spend an evening.