The Prince and The Hawker

During a week-long trip in Tuscany with a group of friends, we decided to have a simple day off on 2 June, Italy’s Festa della Repubblica, or Republic Day. We wanted to take it easy because we hadn’t planned anything in particular and were aware some places may have been closed due to the holiday. After a slow morning and relaxed breakfast in our Airbnb, we settled on driving to Livorno and exploring.

We read that Livorno is not often on the top of tourists’ lists, but it can be lively and full of surprises. Due to the national holiday though, we expected the city to be quiet, and it was indeed that way. However, it was still nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of all the other tourist destinations we had visited that week and just walk and explore. The Venezia Nuova (New Venice) district was especially eye-catching. It was like a less touristy, shabbier Venice, in the best possible way. The canals snaked lazily around the area and it was a pleasure to walk along them just soaking in the Tuscan sun. Though it was quiet, I could imagine the energy of the city on a normal day.

Just as we started to get a bit peckish and ponder our food options, we happened upon a lone outlet with a bustling patio, adjacent to the canal. After taking a quick glance at the menu of Osteria della Venezia, we were delighted that we could be seated at the only remaining table available outside. Even with my limited Italian vocabulary, the menu looked scrumptious and full of seafood (always a plus for me), but we didn’t know just what was in store for us. The server who led us to our table was extremely friendly. Throughout service, she was helpful and patient answering all our questions about menu items. It really added to the experience since there was no English menu available.

Time to Eat

The menu looked amazing and the prices were very decent. After using a combination of my limited Italian and Google Translate, our server came around to explain in more detail the components of the dishes we were considering. We really appreciated her time even while the restaurant was full and extremely busy. While not strictly following traditional Italian meal course progression, I decided to share an antipasto and a primo with my partner, and then took a secondo for myself.

My meal started off with the Crudite di Mare al naturale, a selection of raw seafood simply served. When the server brought this dish, I think my heart actuallly skipped a beat. A colourful assortment of raw oysters, shrimp, langoustines, scallops and fish were arranged beautifully atop a cake-stand-style platter. Everything tasted of the utmost freshness (I mean, we were right by the ocean). The cool, raw seafood was such a welcome start to the meal, and a great contrast to the early afternoon sun we were sitting in. Though it was one of the more expensive items on a relatively inexpensive menu, the portion size was much bigger than we expected.

Next for sharing was the Risotta alla pescatora, a seafood risotto. The texture of this dish was interesting, not exactly what I was expecting. The rice was somewhat more separate from the liquid than I would expect from a more typical creamy risotto. It was halfway between a creamy risotto and a rice in soup. I’m not sure if this was just a different style of risotto I’m not familiar with, but it didn’t really matter to me since the flavour was so excellent. I could taste the essence of the seafood and the ocean in the rice but without any fishyness. There was also a healthy amount of actual seafood in the dish, heavily biased towards mussels.

As a main, I opted for the Cacciucco alla Livornese, a traditional fisherman’s stew specifically from Livorno. Apparently, cacciucco is usually prepared with five different types of seafood, one for each of the C’s in the name. The thick, red stew was very striking when first brought to the table. I found the flavour to be just as intense as the colour. Extremely pungent, the tomato and white wine flavours danced beautifully with the intoxicating seafood aromas. Like everything else we ordered, this dish was chock full of seafood. There were octopus, squid, shrimp, mussels, and cuttlefish. Check on the five types of seafood! My only wish was for more bread to mop up the stew, especially because the dish ate a bit salty at times.

Final Thoughts

What an absolute feast of seafood we had. It felt serendipitous to stumble upon this gem of a restaurant. Everything tasted as if it had been freshly caught that morning (it most likely was). The smiling service we received, despite the restaurant being packed to the brim, made us feel very welcome and relaxed. The price point was a real bargain given the large portions and top quality. My part came to €33.50. I don’t know when I’ll find myself in Livorno again, but this is an eatery I would go out of my way to revisit in the future!