An unexpected Venice meetup

I've blogged a few times about my meet ups with people who have been keeping track of my adventures in Venice through my blog, but this one last week takes the cake.

My typical day includes a lunch rendezvous with my husband Mike in Campo Santa Margherita, usually at Mood Cafe. Max has become my favorite local chef, and if you are a reader of my blog, you know I really like his cheeseburger! The other day Mike and I were just finishing our lunch  sitting in a booth at Mood chatting, when over the back of the booth we hear " Is this Karen?", in English.  We both turned our heads around, to find a man smiling over at us.  There was no one else in the place so he must have meant me.  "Yes, I'm Karen".  I turned to Mike to ask him if he knew these people, because I didn't.  Mike shook his head no.  I was baffled, but soon enough the mystery was cleared up.  "I'm Andrew. I read your blog."

Aha!  Andrew often leaves me comments, so I recognized the name.  He explained that he was in town with friends, and he had put tracking down Mood and Max's cheeseburgers on his list of things to do, having learned about Mood from my blog posts. So here he was.  When he entered the place, he heard Mike and I talking in English, and thought maybe, just maybe there was a slim chance that English speaking woman could be me.

We had a lovely chat with Andrew and his friends while Max was cooking up some burgers. I usually meet people who have come across me on the internet, but it has always been pre-arranged.  To have Andrew stumble over me by sheer coincidence was beyond anything I could ever have imagined.  What's that line of Humphrey Bogart from Casablanca " Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."


Thanks to Andrew, I've had a Casablanca moment of my own.

Table Wars in Campo Santa Margherita

 The peaceful existence we'd come to know and love in Campo Santa Margherita is unfortunately a thing of the past, at least for now.We're in the midst of  full blown Table Wars, and it's getting uglier every day. For days on end in August and September there were articles in the local papers discussing either the previous night's events in the campo, or the status of the situation at the mayor's office.  And, most days, we'd see the local police out measuring the tables and chairs at each establishment, making sure that they were within regulation. No one can extend beyond the space they had been approved for, and were paying for.  Anyone who had an infraction was the recipient of fines levied on them, often to the tune of them being assessed every single day.

These lovely ladies have their tape measure out in front of Mille Vini wine bar, and are busy calculating the bad news of the day.

What's happened in Santa Margherita this summer actually  is two distinct things, in my view.  First, there are congregations of large numbers of students and young people in the campo, late into the night and early morning, making lots of noise, bongos included. This has ticked off the residents of the campo big time, and they took their complaints to city hall.

Someone at city hall, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the root cause of the noise and ruckus is the cafe's and bars being open after midnight selling alcohol. So, what did city hall do?They mandated that no alcohol be sold after a certain hour, and actually closed down the pizza place, the gelato shop, and the kebob shop after 11:30 pm.  After much back and forth between city hall and the shopkeepers of the campol, they decided the gelato shop could stay open later. He doesn't sell anything that might contribute to this. Sadly, the late night noise continued, almost nightly.  I suppose city hall got angry at being ignored, so they retaliated.  Our officials declared there would be "Zero Tolerance" for any infractions of city rules--- and they enforced this with a vengence in Campo Santa Margherita.  And thus, the beginnning of  what I have nicknamed "Table Wars".

There are a few newer cafes and wine bars in the campo who had applied to the city for permission to have tables outside in the campo.  Let's face it, in warm weather, establishments need tables outside to attract customers, especially in a campo like this one.  From what I understand, the permits had been applied for, but not yet processed.  As the weather got warmer, and permits had still not been issued, tables were put in the campo anyway, with the hope that permits would soon be in hand.  In the meantime, we had the noise issues, and the city hall crack down. First there was a rash of fines being issued. Police were in Campo Santa Margherita every single day with tape measures in hand. We laughed when we saw them, but for the new cafe and bar owners, this was no laughing matter.

Next thing we know, the city has conducted a sting operation of sorts. They swooped down on Campo Santa Margherita and confiscated the tables of the establishments who were in violation of having tables without permits. Lawyers have been hired, there have been several meetings with city hall, and still no resolution. Here we are, at the end of September with no resolution, still.  And in the meantime, these new shop owners are suffering with reduced revenue because they have no tables outside, not to mention big lawyer bills.

At my favorite new place, Mood, they are really feeling the pinch.  Their business is way off, and they fear they may have to close soon.  I find this to be a horrible shame, as these young men are hard working, industrious Italians, trying to make a go of their business. If they go under, I know what will open up in their location within a week- another souvenir shop selling imported junk.

I certainly have gone from outsider to local during my time here, haven't I?

The Max Burger-- my latest food preference!

I raved about hot dogs recently, so it's only fair that I  sing the praises of another local find that has rapidly become a huge hit with us.  Not long ago Mood,  a new bar/caffe,  opened in Campo Santa Margherita .  There have been a string of unsuccessful attempts at new food establishments in the campo during the past year, and we've been sad, and disappointed to see them go under so quickly.   When Mood opened, we were quick to become regular patrons.

Nicolo and Max, the guys who run the place, are just really nice, hard working guys. We encouraged them early on to do whatever they had to do to get tables outside in the campo. Without those, how could they compete? We think that was a huge part of the problem with the other bars that folded.  This week, tables showed up outside Mood, and they are filled up whenever we go by the place. Bravi, Nicolo and Max!!

What makes Mood a bit different is the food Max has been making. To say the least, he is innovative. They are serving club sandwiches, sandwiches with eggs on them, burritos, tortillas and a variety of interesting cicchetti (Venetian finger food similar to Spanish Tapas). This isn't standard fare for any of the caffes in Venice.  They also have a terrific selection of beers, including Sierra Nevada and Brooklyn- also not easy to find in this city. This past week, Max told us he was going to add Cheeseburgers to the menu, and asked us to give them a try.

Mike and I purchased Max's very first two cheeseburgers , and WOW, we were sold as soon as we bit into them.  Max has created the perfect burger!  He's using freshly ground meat from the new butcher down at the end of the campo (the one I've been crowing about also!), and it's cooked to perfection. Not overdone, just right.  I have no idea where he's getting the buns, but they also are just great.  Even down to the catsup and mustard, Max is doing it exactly right.  We loved them!  We quickly renamed them " The Max Burger", and added our special endorsement " EX-Pat Approved!".

If you find yourself in Campo Santa Margherita anytime soon, I urge you to find Mood.  Enjoy a bit, say hi to Max and Nicolo, and tell them we sent you!