Venice allergies

I have no allergies, but even the smell of seafood is enough to make me gag. But I ate well with plenty of other options always available. I can't speak for the health requirements though and how careful restaurants are to make sure your food and plate would stay away from others.

Don't avoid Venice because of a seafood allergy. There are many, many non-seafood restaurants/meals. Go to trip advisor and look up restaurants. There is pizza, burgers, Asian, Indian steak, etc.

Is it allergy to all seafood, or just shellfish?

Stan, it's shellfish but the smell of seafood makes me very nauseous.

The only place I remember actually "smelling" seafood in Venice was near an outdoor seafood market which would be easy to avoid.

There are a couple of companies that produce allergy cards for international travel. I use one, not for allergies but because I'm vegan, and it's very helpful to have a small paper card to be able to hand a server to take back to the chef if necessary.

In my experience, there are plenty of food options. I was in Venice for Thanksgiving one year and ate calf's liver. I also remember some fantastic pumpkin ravioli. I may have had seafood once; I agree in thinking it is avoidable.

Here is a post from 2017 on this forum re shellfish allergies and Venice - specific restaurant recommendations are noted.

Pam, can you tell me more about the allergy cards? That would be very helpful to travel with.

Yes, I have both printed "I am vegan" cards and have an app on my phone. I've never used the app and think if I were having trouble communicating with a server that it would be easier to give him a card to take back to the kitchen. I've had that happen in Florence - showed the server the card and then pointed to a couple of things on the menu whereupon he took the card, went to the back and came out a few minutes later and pointed to what things would work for me on the menu. I'd probably not want them to walk off with my phone for a food discussion, lol.

I specifically downloaded my vegan card from a vegan website a few years ago. I have it in French, Italian, German and Dutch.

The app I use is a free one called V-card but there may be an app for food allergies as well.

I did a little searching and here is a link with some links to various sites that provide food allergy cards. Some are sites where you'll have to pay but you may be able to cobble together a card that will work for you. I tape mine to a 3X5 card just so it is sturdy.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/allergy-translation-cards-1324304

and ate calf's liver.

The cornerstone of the Venetian cuisine is not a fish based dish, but Calf's liver with sage and onions; to the point that the dish is nicknamed Venetian-style liver all over Italy. If you see only fish, spaghetti and linguine on a menu, odds are that you are in a tourists' trap catering to foreign tourists.

I tried to list the most famous venetian dishes that come to my mind, if you can't see any of them on the menu find another restaurant
Bigoli in salsa (thick noodles served with a sardine sauce)
Anara col pien (duck stuffed with eggs, breadcrumbs, liver etc)
Risi e Bisi (rice and peas)
Bussolà from Burano (dessert, no fish)
Fegato alla veneziana (calf's liver with onions)
Sarde in saor (fried sardines with onions and pine-nuts)
Bisato su l’ara (eel with laurel)
Moeche (crayfish)
Polenta
Pasta e fagioli (short pasta with beans)
Castradina (salted mutton meat )
Polenta with squids and their black ink
A traditional restaurant in Venice will have a lot of fish on the menu, not only fish.

I'd just bring a piece of paper with this sentence SONO ALLERGICO/A AI FRUTTI DI MARE E ODIO IL PESCE written on it. This way they'll exactly know what to do.

Restaurant in Calle Lunga San Barnaba, Dorsoduro. La Bitta proudly declares No Fish. The goose there is excellent.