Welcome to the Dolce Vita Diaries

A lifestyle scrapbook (of sorts) dedicated to the most delicious things in life. Literal and metaphorical.

Ciao! Welcome to the Dolce Vita Diaries, a jumble of interiors and fashion, food and travel, recipes, lessons learned (in the kitchen and beyond), recommendations, must-haves, and all those other bits bobs that don’t really fall into a single category, but that have do a way of making life better, happier, sweeter. It’s all things dolce vita: food and beyond. 

I’ve been wanting to create a space for a while now where I can share my thoughts and favourites. Thank you for following along: I think we’re going to have fun together.

So: enough chat; more chat to come (another day) and here are a few of my favourites to get started.

My Five Favourite Spots to Eat in Venice

I’ve lived in Venice for most of my life and am the world’s greediest person (truly), so it’s no great surprise that I’m often asked where my favourite spots to eat are. I’m working on a more extended food guide to Venice which I look forward to sharing soon, but in the meantime here are my top five favourites that I always send to friends ahead of their visit:

Tucked away in a quiet corner of the Castello quarter (incidentally, just round the corner from where I grew up), this is the cosiest little restaurant and my favourite to go to for a spoiling treat. You absolutely MUST book in advance, as they only open a few evenings a week and do get super booked up. It’s a family run business and the owners, Cesare and Diane, are pure magic: they grow all their own vegetables on the nearby island of Sant’Erasmo, and you can taste the love and care which goes into each dish they cook. My favourites are the pasta e fagioli (and I’m not even a huge pasta e fagioli fan, but I do love the one they make at Al Covo which is the epitome of comfort food); and the deep fried zucchini flowers, which come laced with whipped ricotta and fresh mint and fried in a batter that is as light as air (trust me: I’ve done extensive research on this and they’re the best zucchini flowers in town). Other highlights are the fritto misto (deep fried mixed seafood) and Diane’s ricotta cheesecake which is - honestly - ambrosial.

Standing room only and some of the best pastries in town. I love coming here for breakfast: coffee is served at the bar together with a warm brioche (the Italian equivalent to a French croissant, but doughier, sweeter and filled, typically, with apricot jam). Also an absolute must is the delicious selection of Venetian patisserie: cream filled meringues, fruit laden tarts, chocolate filled choux pastry, rum laced truffled cakes and ricotta cake peppered with booze-soaked raisins, served by the slice.

There is something wonderfully timeless and never changing about this bustling little trattoria, hidden away down a dark alley just by the Rialto Bridge: it’s a nostalgic time capsule and, honestly, has not changed a jot in the nearly forty years I‘ve been going there. The food is all super classic fare: my go-to on the menu is a plate of the artichoke hearts, swimming in a pool of grassy olive oil and dressed with chopped fresh parsley; followed by a dish of spaghetti alle vongole (also heavy on the olive oil and the fresh parsley). Everything comes served by charmingly old fashioned waiters in white jackets. For pudding: a slice of their millefoglie, shards of thin pastry layered with a thick, almost custardy cream which is peppered with chunks of chocolate then doused in a cloud of icing sugar. It’s a cousin of the more sophisticated French millefeuille but also very much it’s own thing. It’s a must.

There are a couple of these pizzerie dotted around town, but the one to go to is the one on the Zattere. Perched on the waterfront, the charm of this spot lies in its unpretentious simplicity: great pizza made with local and seasonal ingredients and a truly magical setting. Proof, if ever proof were needed, that the very best things are often the simplest. If you don’t feel like pizza, you can also get a salad or a plate of pasta. It’s a great place to go with children, because it’s super relaxed and there is plenty of space for them to run around and play on the waterfront. While in summer it’s deliciously refreshing to sit under the parasol umbrellas and by the lapping water, in the colder months it’s a Mecca for Venetians because the Zattere are famously a sun trap for the winter sun, so you can often sit outdooors for lunch even on chillier days. After your pizza, you can of course have pudding at Ae Oke, but I prefer to stroll down the waterfront to Da Nico and either have an ice cream sitting on the water, or get one to go and enjoy it as I stroll.

Venice is all about cichetti (small bites) and my favourite spot for that is All’Arco, just behind the Rialto Market. So, if you were feeling greedy (I always am): you could pop in to All’Arco for a spritz and a couple of cichetti, then walk over to Alla Madonna for lunch. The bar is tiny, standing-room only, bustling and full of buzzy atmosphere. There is no fixed menu, but a counter with all sorts of scrumptious small bites made with what’s most fresh and good at the market that day. Lots of really good seafood, but also a fair number of vegetable and cheese based bits and bobs for those who don’t love fish. Absolutely essential is a spritz or ombra (Venetian dialect for a glass of white wine) to wash down your cichetti.

Five Things I’m Loving Right Now (& A Great Life-Hack)

The Thursday Murder Club Series: I know I’m late to the party on this one, but what a joy to discover this murder mystery series. Agatha Christie-eque but quirky and modern. Utterly enchanting, thoroughly addictive and pretty much the perfect holiday read. 

I devoured the first season of Julia (smallest of puns intended) and I’m rationing myself through the second (and sadly last) season now. Sarah Lancashire (of Happy Valley fame - love her!) is Julia Child in 1960s Massachusetts as cookery-author-cum-tv-star-cum-force-of-nature. Charming and inspiring and generally very happy-making: you’ll smile and laugh your way through it. 

 TOP of my wish list. One day… Even just one to have in my bedroom.

This is one of my favourite recipes from A Table Full of Love, and I make it on repeat when rhubarb is in season: I just love this combination of buttery pastry, meltingly rich cheddar cheese and sharp rhubarb. It’s a super simple recipe; you roll out a sheet of ready made puff party, then top with cheese and hot-pink sticks of rhubarb and bake in the oven until golden and melted. I like to serve with a crisp green salad on the side. Full recipe is in the book or right here.

… or two. Or three. My first ever Cherry Ripe bar was on holiday in Australia (it’s an Australian thing) and I’ve been obsessed ever since: coconut and cherries coated in bitter, dark chocolate. Unbelievably good. I also love the crinkly, shimmering red wrapper which has a pleasing and uncannily Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory-you’ve-won-the-golden-ticket quality about it: if you know, you know.

I’ve spent too many years not wearing skirts and trousers I own and love, because I could never quite find the right top to go with them: then I discovered these classic jumpers from Uniqlo which are a wardrobe game changer. Made with fine merino wool, they feel really nice on the skin and are an elegant slim fit that works well for day and evening, and doesn’t look too chunky. They come in all the colours of the rainbow and are the perfect weight to wear as a warm top (which, if needed, you can even layer over) in the colder months, but also to just drape nonchalantly over your shoulders as an extra layer, when Spring comes round.

And lastly, a recipe for something sweet… Pistachio & Rose Cake

I love everything about this cake, from its pretty pinkness to the buttery pistachio laden sponge. It’s a wonderfully forgiving recipe to bake and (honestly) hard to go wrong with; but a few thoughts in case helpful: you can buy pistachio cream from most Italian delicatessens or online (here, for example); go slowly with the rosewater (and, for that matter, the pink food colouring) and taste as you go, you can always add more (and in this instance, less really is more) but once you’ve gone too far it’s tricky to roll back.

For the decoration, I used dried rosebuds from a rose petal tea, but you could also just decorate with a few fresh flowers or a scattering of fresh petals (or even leave the cake perfectly pink and naked). Serve as is or with a generous helping of fresh raspberries or strawberries (both make for a lovely pairing with both the rose and pistachio) on the side. 

Serves 8-10

FOR THE CAKE

200g salted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
180g pistachio cream
120g plain yogurt
3 eggs
200g self-raising flour
A pinch of fine sea salt

FOR THE ICING

1 tbsp milk
240g salted butter
300g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp rosewater
A few drops of pink food dye
Dried tea roses, for decoration

Heat the oven to 180˚C fan / 160˚C fan / Gas Mark 4. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line with with baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar and a generous pinch of salt, then beat with an electric mixer until smooth; add the pistachio cream and beat again until well combined. Now, beat in the yogurt and the eggs. Lastly sift in the flour and beat until you have a light and smooth batter. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes, then cover with tin foil and bake for a further 35 minutes, until lightly golden on top and a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake. Turn the cake out on to a rack and let cool completely before icing.

To make the icing, combine the milk, butter and half the sugar in a large mixing bowl, then beat until smooth. Now, add the last of the sugar and beat until the icing is light but holds its shape. Mix in the vanilla extract, rosewater and add a few drops of rosewater. Be conservative with the amount of food colouring you use (less really is more here), as you’re going for a delicate shade of rose pink. Then you can add more colouring (droplet by droplet), if you would like a more intense colour.

Once completely cooled, set the cake on a serving dish, then smother generously with the pink icing and top with a handful of dried roses for decoration (or fresh roses or rose petals, if you prefer).