I first met Skye McAlpine back in 2018 when her big seller, A Table in Venice, was about to hit shelves. A collection of recipes that celebrates her youth spent along the Venetian Grand Canal, she taught me a recipe for almond croissants that I still use to this day.
Skye's recipes, the way she presents and photographs her own work, her signature hosting style, and her dreamy combination of English and Italian heritage led to a Sunday Times column and a tableware range for Anthropologie. Her newest book, The Christmas Companion, is a natural next step for a woman whose home is at the heart of everything. “We always go to Venice at Christmas if we can,” she tells me when we sit down to chat. “I’m biased, obviously, but I find Venice really magical at Christmastime. It’s usually quite cold and crisp, and it’s relatively quiet. You get those quite dreamy, foggy days. All the bakeries do amazing panettone covered in glacé icing. On Christmas Eve, we always go to midnight mass.”
Skye describes Venice as “basically a village, so when you’re wandering through the streets, everyone is wishing you a happy Christmas. There’s a real sense of community. You feel the magic of Christmas; Venice lends itself very much to that.”
In Italy, Christmas Eve is the focal point of the celebrations. "Usually in Venice, we have seafood to start, so something like scallops and spider crab. Then maybe a whole seabass, followed by a pasta – a tagliatelle with shavings of white truffle – then a panettone.”
Skye moved with her family to Italy as a child, supposedly only for a year. Her parents have been there ever since. Her admiration for the city's unique beauty, the stunning food, and the language springs from every page of her new book. Skye laughingly tells me, “I probably say this about every book, but this has been my favourite so far because I am obsessed with Christmas.”
Skye compares Christmas to trips abroad, in that the anticipation, reflections, shared photos, and the excitement of planning are as much fun, if not more so, than the event itself. She is known by her Instagram followers for the epic number of Christmas cakes she makes as gifts throughout December. It was something her mother did. “I’ve played with some of her recipes, and I decorate them differently, but it’s definitely a tradition inherited from her,” Skye says. “And my sons and I always make gingerbread biscuits, and then we turn them into ornaments for our tree. I make the cakes for friends, and it drives my husband slightly mad because every surface of the kitchen becomes a Christmas cake.”
Skye’s Italian background has had a profound influence on her, and it’s the nostalgia, the sense of stepping back in time and the long history of multi-generational restaurants that she adores when there. Her taste “tends to gravitate towards something established and old school” when she is back home in Venice. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that the restaurants in Venice that she recommends to us have been around as long as she has, if not longer. Henceforth, Skye’s favourite Venetian eateries.
Al Covo
This is such a lovely restaurant, and it’s near my mum’s house, so it’s in the area of town that I grew up in. It’s family-run and has been for generations. Today, it’s run by a really lovely couple called Cesare and Diane Rankin. It was in his family, and he married Diane, who, I believe, was in Venice on holiday from Texas many years ago. They met, fell in love, and she stayed to take over the restaurant with him. They’re both incredibly charismatic and very warm, and the food is not only delicious, but they also set a really lovely, welcoming tone in the restaurant. I think it’s one of the earliest proponents of slow food in Italy. They really believe in these things, and now they grow a lot of their own vegetables and produce themselves, so everything is super fresh and hyper seasonal. The dishes are all very traditional, though they may give them their own spin, and it’s not overly pretentious. They don’t complicate things for the sake of it. I love it. Everything is amazing, but I particularly love their fried zucchini flowers with mint and ricotta; the batter is just perfect. They’re the best zucchini flowers I’ve had anywhere, I think – certainly in Venice. Diane also does this ricotta cheesecake, which is to die for.
Gelati Nico
This is amazing for ice cream and coffee, and you can also get sandwiches. It’s an ice creamery that’s been there forever and has seemingly remained unchanged, at least since I was a child. It’s on the waterfront in Venice, on the canal. They have a pontoon that sits on the water, and that particular strip of Venice is famous because it always captures the sun; if there’s any sunshine, you will get it there, so it’s a lovely spot to sit, and the ice cream is delicious. The waiters wear proper old-fashioned outfits, and it’s really charming. Gianduiotto is everywhere, but they do it particularly well at Nico. It’s basically whipped cream with a rectangular chunk of chocolate and gianduia, and it's almost like a semifreddo. It’s so good. I don’t know what they do to their whipped cream, but it is super light and airy. It’s incredible; it’s their thing, and it’s just perfect. My boys love this place.
Rosa Salva
I love this place for breakfast. They actually have three locations across Venice, which all have their own character, but my personal favourite is in Giovanni e Paolo. It’s wonderfully old-fashioned, and you can have a coffee and a pastry or a sandwich standing at the bar. They also have this sweet little back room that’s literally like stepping into the 1960s, or they also have, and this is my favourite bit, tables and chairs in the square outside. It’s not a particularly touristy part of town, but it’s where the hospital is, and that is actually a really beautiful building. Next to it is the church of San Giovanni Paolo, and outside is one of the few equestrian sculptures in Venice. It’s a man on a horse, and I think there are only two in Venice, with one in this square, so you can sit looking at it. It’s just a beautiful spot to sit. Their coffee is fantastic, and they do great Aperitivo and these delicious, soft white bread sandwiches with mayonnaise, which is a really Venetian thing. I’ll always get a hot chocolate.
Harry’s Dolci
This is much fancier. It’s incredible in the summer. So, there’s Harry’s Bar (which is infamous), and in the summer, on Giudecca Island, you’ll find Harry’s Dolci. You sit outside on the water facing the central part of Venice with the most beautiful view, possibly in the world. Again, this is a place that’s completely untouched and unchanged in my lifetime. I think people don’t like listing it because it’s already so famous and it’s been around for so long, but I think they do everything so well. The menu changes ever so slightly seasonally. They might have a phase of putting baby artichokes on there and then taking them off, for example. But the dishes are essentially the same. There’s something so chic and confident about a restaurant that knows they do something really, really well and doesn’t change it. The baby artichokes are excellent – they grow them with tomatoes on the island of Torcello. They also make this dish of tagliolini with pancetta and a creamy, baked cheese sauce. I’m not someone who loves especially rich dishes, but it is just unreal. This is going to sound mad, but the other thing I’m obsessed with is their chocolate ice cream. It’s probably the best I’ve ever had anywhere. It’s another thing people get a bit sniffy about – like, “oh, you’re going to Harry’s Dolci and getting ice cream,’ but that’s the whole point. It’s wonderful. My husband gets quite agitated and says it’s not really ice cream but more like a chocolate mousse. It's ice cream, but it’s never set solid and almost has a mousse-like quality. It’s incredibly rich and really dark, and they serve it in massive scoops.
Antica Locanda Montin
Again, this is a very charming but oddly old-fashioned restaurant that has remained unchanged for years. There's a cute central part to the restaurant with lots of pictures on the walls that they collected over the years. Then you walk into the back, they’ve got a pretty courtyard with a pergola, so in the summer, you can sit under the shade. They do really great pasta, and I just love it there.
A Christmas Companion, By Skye McAlpine, is out now. £28 (Bloomsbury).