A TAVOLA: Cities That Know How to Eat & Drink - Verona
VERONA - Where Wine Goes Into the Risotto and Sunday Lunch Is Sacred
Verona is famous for Romeo and Juliet, but there's another love story happening here.
It's between the city and its food.
Just beyond the ancient streets, vineyards climb the hills of Valpolicella. To the south, rice grows in the fertile plains. And inside the city's old osterie, you'll find the kind of cooking that makes you wonder why anyone would ever rush through a meal.
Rich risotto. Slow-cooked meats. Beautiful wines. A little something bitter before dinner.
Verona may be the city of romance, but the real love affair happens at the table.
1. The City That Gave Italy Christmas
Every December, millions of Italian families open a tall box, pull out a golden cake shaped like an eight-pointed star and cover it with a generous snowfall of powdered sugar.
Pandoro.
And it comes from Verona.
In 1894, Veronese pastry chef Domenico Melegatti patented the modern version of this rich, buttery Christmas cake, building on older local baking traditions.
Unlike Milan's panettone, pandoro contains no raisins or candied fruit. Just beautifully soft, golden dough enriched with butter and eggs, with a delicate vanilla aroma.
And here's the interesting part.
What began as a Veronese specialty became one of Italy's most recognizable Christmas traditions.
Every December, Italians still argue about which is better: pandoro or panettone.
A debate that can divide a family faster than politics.
Our solution?
Have both. https://www.visitverona.it/
2. Risotto all'Amarone
Verona has a rather wonderful approach to cooking with wine.
Use the good stuff.
Risotto all'Amarone brings together two of the area's greatest products: Vialone Nano rice from the plains south of Verona and Amarone wine from the Valpolicella hills.
The rice slowly absorbs broth and deep red wine, turning a beautiful burgundy colour.
As it cooks, the kitchen fills with aromas of dark cherries, wine and butter.
The finished risotto is creamy without being heavy, with the richness of the Amarone balanced by the natural bite of the rice. A little aged Monte Veronese cheese can bring everything together.
It's earthy, savoury and wonderfully indulgent.
And there's something distinctly Italian about pouring an expensive bottle of wine
into a pot of rice.
Most people would call that extravagant.
The Veronese call it dinner. https://www.visitverona.it/
3. Lesso con la Pearà
If you really want to understand Verona, find yourself a family table on a cold Sunday afternoon.
There's a large platter of slowly simmered beef and other meats in the middle.
A bowl of steaming sauce sits beside it.
And everybody knows the sauce is the important part.
Pearà.
Its name comes from the local dialect word for pepper, and pepper is certainly not used sparingly.
Pearà is made by slowly cooking breadcrumbs in rich meat broth, traditionally with beef marrow and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
The result is thick, velvety and deeply savoury, with a warmth that builds with every bite.
Spoon it generously over tender boiled beef and suddenly something as simple as meat cooked in broth becomes extraordinary.
This is the food of Sunday lunches, family gatherings and winter celebrations.
No fancy presentation.
No unnecessary ingredients.
Just a recipe handed down through generations and a grandmother who probably thinks everyone else's version is wrong.
And she's probably right. https://www.visitverona.it/
4. Valpolicella & the Venetian Spritz
Some of Italy's most celebrated vineyards sitting just outside the city, Verona has plenty to pour.
We could talk about Amarone all afternoon.
But let's give its younger, livelier relative some attention.
Valpolicella Classico.
Made primarily from local grapes such as Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella, it's a fresh, vibrant red with flavours of cherries, red berries and a gentle savoury finish.
Unlike the powerful, concentrated Amarone, Valpolicella is lighter on its feet.
It's the sort of wine you can enjoy slightly cool, alongside salumi, cheese, pasta or a long lunch that accidentally becomes dinner. Consorzio della Valpolicella
But before we get to dinner, there's an important Veneto tradition to observe.
Aperitivo.
And that usually means a Spritz.
Prosecco, a bitter aperitivo and a splash of soda, served cold over ice with an orange slice.
The drink's origins go back to the period of Austrian influence in northern Italy, when wine was diluted with water. Over time, the modern bittersweet Spritz emerged.
Today, Verona's osterie and wine bars fill with people enjoying a glass and a few small bites before dinner.
Of course, the small bites often become several plates.
And the one drink sometimes becomes two.
It's a wonderfully inefficient way to have dinner.
Which is exactly why we love it. https://www.visitverona.it/
5. Why Bar Corso Loves Verona
Verona understands something we believe strongly at Bar Corso.
Good food and wine aren't separate pleasures. They're supposed to make each other better.
A beautiful red wine becomes part of the risotto.
An inexpensive piece of meat becomes extraordinary with patience and a properly made sauce.
A simple glass of wine turns into aperitivo when someone puts a few plates on the table.
And before you know it, you're having dinner.
That's the part of Italian culture we love bringing to Commercial Drive.
We make our pasta fresh every day. Our bread is made in-house. Our sauces start from scratch. And our wines are carefully selected because we want guests to discover something beyond the usual bottles.
But those things are only part of the experience.
What really matters is what happens around the table.
Someone orders a Negroni.
A few cicchetti arrive.
Another plate gets passed around.
Someone discovers a wine they've never tried before.
The conversation gets louder.
Nobody's watching the clock.
And just when everyone thinks they're finished, somebody suggests an amaro.
That's not simply dinner.
That's an evening worth remembering.
Verona may have Romeo and Juliet.
At Corso, we'll settle for good food, great wine and a love affair that lasts longer than theirs did.
