Two generations of the Gastaldi family work in the Cantinone (also, confusingly, known as Il Bottegon) filling glasses, carting cases of wine, and preparing huge panini with mortadella or more delicate crostini with, for example, creamed pistachio or cream cheese with fish roe.
Give yourself ample opportunity to select from the day’s offerings by arriving before the crowds pour in at 1pm. When the bar itself is full, you’ll be in good company on the bridge outside – an apt setting for the Venetian ritual of spritz and prosecco consumption.