Capodanno in Padua

The Palazzo della Ragione in Padua, which is
known locally as "il Salone"

New Year’s Day is called Capodanno in Italy, which literally means ‘head of the year.’ After a late start following the New Year’s Eve festivities, many families will enjoy another traditional feast together, either at home or in a restaurant.

Both visitors to Padua and residents may attend church services before sitting down to a festive meal and toasting the new year again with a glass of good prosecco.

Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza della Frutta e Piazza dei Signori in the centre of the city are places where locals and visitors gather to enjoy un aperitivo or meal together, or to visit the market ‘under il Salone’, with its excellent food shops selling Padovan specialities.

Buon Anno e Tanti Auguri per 2023 da Best of Padua!

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La Lanterna Pizzeria Ristorante Padova

Enjoy a taste of the Mediterranean at long-established Padua restaurant 

In a good position in Piazza dei Signori in the centre of Padua, La Lanterna Pizzeria Ristorante has been serving up delicious, Mediterranean-inspired dishes for more than fifty years.

La Lanterna in Piazza dei Signori

The many speciality dishes on the menu are influenced by the origins of the owner, Signor Antonio Ruggiero, who comes from Salerno in Campania.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is very welcoming and the staff are friendly and always delighted to describe the ingredients used in the many tempting dishes on offer.

The menu has a wide range of antipasti, a good selection of pasta dishes, traditional fish dishes, such as branzino and orata, and classic meat dishes, such as filetto al pepe verde (fillet steak in a green pepper sauce) and scaloppine al marsala (veal marsala).

The pizza oven serves up all the classics, as well as some adventurous concoctions, on bases made in the traditional style of the city where the pizza was born, Naples.

There is a good choice of reasonably-priced wines as well as a selection of spirits and soft drinks.

Speciality dishes include scampi alla griglia, pacheri allo scoglio (tube-shaped pasta with sea food) and pizza mediterraneo.

Tagliatelle alla Lanterna 

The Best of Padua editor says: ‘My favourite pasta dish is Tagliatelle alla Lanterna, which is tagliatelle served with prawns in a delicious, creamy, tomato sauce, and I particularly enjoyed the local white wine I had ordered to go with it.’

La Lanterna Pizzeria Ristorante is on the right side of Piazza dei Signori as you look towards Palazzo del Capitano, with its elegant Torre dell’Orologio, a tower that houses clockworks that are believed to be the oldest still in existence in Italy.

La Lanterna is just a short walk away from Piazza dei Frutti and Piazza delle Erbe and is also close to the Duomo.

For more information about the restaurant, visit www.lalanternapadova.it.

La Lanterna is open from 12.00 to 15.00 and from 18.00 to 24.00 and is closed on Thursdays. 

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Agli Eremitani Ristorante Pizzeria

Dine well at traditional restaurant and pizzeria in the heart of Padua

 

Tucked away under the porticos of Via Porciglia, the Agli Eremitani restaurant and pizzeria is handily placed for visitors to the Scrovegni Chapel, home to Giotto’s amazing frescoes, or the Eremitani museum complex.

Agli Eremitani is at Via Porciglia 29

The restaurant serves pizza and speciality dishes from the Veneto using local, seasonal ingredients. They also offer seafood from the nearby Adriatic and international dishes.

Diners have the choice of a secluded alcove in one of the smaller, wood-panelled rooms, a table in the large room with gardens on two sides or an outside table during the summer.

Agli Eremitani serve more than 100 different types of pizza. Their specialty dish is scialatelli ai crostacei (scialatelli with a sauce made from shellfish). The restaurant pride themselves on the range and quality of the wines they keep in their cantina.

Close to the University, Agli Eremitani frequently host lunches and dinners to celebrate le feste di laurea (degree celebrations).

Agli Eremitani is open from 12.00 to 15.00 and from 18.30 to 1.00 am every day except Monday.

For more information or to book a table visit www.eremitani.net.

Take a day trip to Castelfranco Veneto

Within a short distance of Padova by train or car, the historic city of Castelfranco Veneto is smart and prosperous with a wealth of good shops, restaurants and bars.

On arrival, head to the lively Piazza Giorgione, where you can sit outside one of the bars and feast your eyes on the imposing 12th century defensive walls surrounding the historic centre, which is known to locals as Castello.

Castelfranco Veneto's defensive walls

The dark red brickwork has faded to pale pink in places and the towers have weeds growing out of them but you can still see why the walls behind the moat kept neighbouring armies at bay.

If you go through the walls at Via Garibaldi and walk past the 18th century Teatro Accademico you will reach Piazza San Liberale and the pink and white Duomo.

To the right of the altar is the jewel in Castelfranco’s crown, Enthroned Madonna and Child with St Francis and St Nicasio by local artist Giorgione. As one of only a handful of paintings definitely attributable to the Renaissance genius, it is amazing that it has remained above the tomb for which it was originally commissioned.

At nearby Casa Giorgione you can see the frieze in a first floor room that makes experts believe the house was the artist’s birthplace. Study the objects and scrolls he is thought to have painted as a youngster and join in the long running debate about their meaning. Some see the frieze as a reference to the frailty of the human condition - grimly prophetic for someone who was to die at 30 during an outbreak of plague in Venice.

Bars in Piazza Giorgione

To try dishes typical of the Veneto, visit one of the friendly, family-run osterie inside the ancient walls. Try specialities such as trippe (tripe), baccala (salt cod) or seppie (cuttlefish).

Make sure you sample the famous Castelfranco variegate, a special type of radicchio, which is served as a vegetable or in pasta and risotto.  Look out for the popular local dish, risi e bisi (rice with peas), cooked Castelfranco-style with cheese.

If you are a fan of Prosecco, the Veneto’s light, dry sparkling white wine, you will enjoy a trip along the road between Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, 40 km of gentle hills with ancient hamlets and wineries offering the opportunity to taste Prosecco DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) the stamp of quality given to the best wines.

There are designer clothes shops and shoe shops in Piazza Giorgione but if you want something unusual to take back with you look out for a small shop selling antiques and bric a brac in Via Garibaldi opposite the Teatro Accademico.

Castelfranco Veneto is about 30 km from Padova and there is a good train service between the two cities.

 

Feast your eyes on Padova’s famous market squares

Bar under the porticos of Palazzo della Ragione

Foodies will love exploring the two squares on either side of Padova’s  Palazzo della Ragione, which are the sites for large markets selling fruit, vegetables and other goods.

The Piazza della Frutta and the Piazza delle Erbe have been at the heart of the commercial centre of Padova since the 13th century.

If you can’t find what you are looking for on any of the hundreds of market stalls that fill both squares, there are shops selling meat, cheese, fish and specialist ingredients for cooking under the porticos on either side of the Palazzo.

It is pleasant to sit at one of the bars and have a drink and a snack while observing the lively scenes taking place in the squares or you can buy food to eat on the move from some of the stalls or vans that have come to do business there.

Stall in Piazza delle Erbe

The huge Palazzo della Ragione was built to serve as Padova’s law court and council chamber in 1218 and the markets quickly became established on both sides of the building.

From Via 8 Febbraio you can reach the Piazza della Frutta by turning down Via Oberdan or to get to Piazza delle Erbe go down Via Municipio.