A Venice Cicchetti Crawl That Beats Any Sit-Down Dinner

Cicchetti are Venice's answer to tapas: small plates of crostini, fried things, and seafood, eaten standing up with a glass of wine or a spritz. They are cheap, delicious, and the most fun you can have eating in this city.

The move is to do a crawl — one or two bites and a drink at each bacaro, then move on. Look for the crowded counters down side streets, away from the Grand Canal.

Order the baccalà mantecato, the sarde in saor, and whatever's freshest behind the glass. Then drift to the next place. This is dinner as a slow, delicious wander.