Little Venice

Should you by some wild chance find yourself with a little time on your hands in downtown Binghamton, NY, I have two suggestions. First, take a little stroll around the city center and look at the historic architecture. There certainly are a good number of beautiful buildings illustrating a variety of styles. There is an iconic 1930's Federal Courthouse, the still beautiful 1905 beaux-arts Security Mutual building, the 1898 neo-classical County Courthouse and the complementary 1897 Municipal Building across the street, now reborn as the Grand Royale Hotel. All of these are definitely worth a look. Unfortunately, the overall impression of the downtown is of a struggling, economically starved relic of a bygone era. In fact, all our Upstate NY cities fit that description to some extent. That fact doesn't mean they don't contain some real gems if you are willing to look closely for them.

Now head for the recently upgraded art deco bus station, complete with classic running Greyhound neon sign. The bus station is on the corner of Chenango and Henry Streets. Only half a block further along, right next to the bus station parking lot at 111 Chenango St. you find Little Venice. http://www.littlevenicerestaurant.com/

The same Italian family has run this restaurant since 1946. It's had three prior locations all nearby in downtown, all victims of redevelopment. It's been at the current location since 1969. When you enter through the front door you find yourself in a modest size room with a bar. This is the original. Down a long dim hall on the right you reach the large main dining room with an attached smaller private room. Locals often enter the dining room directly from the parking lot in the back. Cozy booths line the walls, and boy-o-boy what walls.

Every square inch of the walls is covered by original art, mostly oil paintings from the early 20^th and later 19^th centuries. The placemat claims that some are “old masters” but I think they are using that term loosely. The subject matter is incredibly varied. The only theme I could discern was “people laughing.” There are hokey-jokey paintings hung right next to formal portraits from the 17^th century. We sat beneath a tableaux of two stuffed quail in a natural setting preserved under a glass dome. Such bird taxidermy art was once quite popular but seldom seen today.

To find the bathrooms you need to take a tour of the entire premises: back down the hall to the front door, the whole way around the bar in the front room and then to the back on the left. This little excursion allowed me to get a better look at the art and to review the celebrity wall in the hallway with signed pictures of Ernest Borgnine next to Liberace next to pictures of many formerly famous people I didn't recognize. Perfect.

The place seems to always be bustling. It's not really fit for a romantic get away, if that's what you have in mind. The food and the service were great when we visited last week. I have some simple advice on the food – eat the pasta. Amazingly all the pasta dough is made fresh daily. The pasta you eat will be rolled and cut after you order it. That's fresh, so fresh you may not recognize it. Gluten-free pasta is also available. I had ravioli that was amazing. The manicotti is actually made with a crepe, not pasta. I'm going to try that next time. Merry had capellini that she pronounced wonderful. On top of this you should order the original Little Venice “sweet” sauce and a meat “log” [not a ball]. The sauce is definitely sweeter than any I have had before. We both liked it a lot. We're still debating what makes it so sweet. Caramelized onions? Brown sugar? Pears? Only the family knows, and they aren't telling.

We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and I know you will too.