The restaurant Angolo Palladio in Vicenza, Italy, is named for its location close to the white marble basilica designed by the great Renaissance architect Andreas Palladio, and his statue, which stands beside it. (Nancy Montgomery/Stars and Stripes)
The restaurant Angolo Palladio in Vicenza, Italy, is named for its location close to the white marble basilica designed by the great Renaissance architect Andreas Palladio, and his statue, which stands beside it. (Nancy Montgomery/Stars and Stripes)
The unassuming entrance to the Angolo Palladio restaurant in Vicenza, Italy, is flanked by cans of herbs and spices. (Nancy Montgomery/Stars and Stripes)
Outside seating at Angolo Palladio, a restaurant in Vicenza, Italy, on nice days and warm nights is hard to beat and popular with tourists and locals alike. (Nancy Montgomery/Stars and Stripes)
An appetizer of shrimp, eggplant, fennel and peppers at Angolo Palladio restaurant in Vicenza, Italy, costs 10 euros. (Nancy Montgomery/Stars and Stripes)
Of a dozen pizzas on the menu at Angolo Palladio, a restaurant in Vicenza, Italy, this rolled pizza with caramelized onions, mozzarella and turmeric-spiced shrimp is the most unusual and very, very tasty. It costs 13 euros. (Nancy Montgomery/Stars and Stripes)
On a sunny day or a warm evening, the restaurant Angolo Palladio is tough to beat.
Location? View? Ambience? You’re sitting outside, in Vicenza’s main pedestrian-only piazza, looking at the city’s most beautiful architectural work, the gleaming marble basilica by Renaissance architect Andreas Palladio, Vicenza’s favorite son.
You’re amidst other happy diners, from German tourists to Vicenza’s mayor, in a hub-bubby swirl of talk.
You’re ordering from menus in English and attended by a friendly, competent staff, who’ll go out of their way to accommodate you, maybe bringing another table outside, offering a free limoncello, or even — gasp! — letting you order lunch when you show up a little late.
It’s so easy, so nice, sometimes you almost want to weep with gratitude.
All that would be less wonderful if the food and wine weren’t usually so good. They are, though, and very reasonably priced to boot.
The menu is small, with about five each of appetizers, first courses — mostly pasta, second courses — fish, beef and chicken, and deserts — cheesecake, panna cotta, crème brulee. Additionally, there are a dozen pizzas and scores of good but inexpensive wines by the glass or bottle.
The menu changes seasonally but maintains many of the same items. And although there are no specials, the kitchen tweaks dishes so that menu items can be a little different from day to day.
At a recent dinner, I had the sliced sirloin with rosemary potatoes and a glass of red wine recommended by the waiter. Was it Valpolicella or Bardolino? I wish I knew, because along with the steak and browned potatoes, it was amazing.
I’d also had the vaguely titled Catalan-style shrimp and vegetables for an appetizer and loved it, too, with its salad greens and fennel.
I ordered that again for lunch even more recently, and it was quite different. It still had the shrimp and the fennel, but those were accompanied by warm eggplant and roasted peppers. They are vegetables, and it wasn’t bad, but I missed the salad.
The spaghetti vongole (with clams) also has been sort of hit or miss for me, sometimes seeming quite bland and other times seeming quite yummy.
But many things are routinely wonderful, among them, a rolled pizza filled with caramelized onions and mozzarella, accompanied by shrimp spiced with turmeric. I’d often seen it on nearby tables — people frequently order it as an appetizer — but had no idea what it was until I finally asked a waitress. Now it’s my go-to pizza. But then, so is the one with buffalo mozzarella from Campania, cherry tomatoes and basil.
ANGOLO PALLADIOAddress: Piazzetta Palladio, 12, Vicenza, Italy
Menu: in Italian and English. Limited offerings of appetizers, first and second courses and desserts with seasonal variations.
Hours: Lunch is noon to 2:30 p.m. every day but Thursday; Dinner is 7 p.m. to midnight daily. Prices: Inexpensive. Appetizers and other courses run from nine to 16 euros, desserts are five euros, wine by the glass runs between two and four euros.
Dress: Casual.
More information: Telephone: (+39) 0444-327790; website: angolopalladio.it (in Italian).
