Most people go to Venice for their fill of Tintoretto, Palladio, Vivaldi, and a gondola ride. But in their quest to discover some of the world’s finest art, architecture, and music, they could easily overlook some outstanding cuisine. And that’s understandable in a country so rich in destinations known for exceptional food.

So to find Venice’s culinary treasures, it’s best to turn to someone in the know. In my case, that someone is Franco Luise, executive chef at the newly renovated Molino Stucky Hilton on the island of Giudecca. Luise, a native of the Veneto region in northeastern Italy, is convinced that Venice can be just as famous for food as it is for art and beauty.

He looks frazzled when I catch him at Aromi, the Hilton’s flagship restaurant. As Luise juggles a handful of banquets, oversees dinner preparations at Aromi, and deals with a demanding room-service request, he raises his dark eyebrows as he ponders my question. “Where to eat in Venice,” he says slowly. “Let’s talk about it over lunch.”

Later that day, Luise meets me at his favorite restaurant, Lineadombra, on the sunniest street in Venice. We sit outside on the floating terrace, with the Giudecca canal and island in front of us, Palladio’s Redentore church casting warm tones behind us.

After a rapid consultation sprinkled with words like fresco, crudo, and speziato, our waiter brings us several servings of wonderfully fresh seafood, including a plate of crudo, or raw fish. When I ask what he ordered, Luise replies confidently, “Whatever is the special of the day.” He then leans over and dispenses a message that will prove invaluable during my next few days in Venice: “Trust the chef.”

So, as we dine on celery and rock crab salad and giant scallops served in shell, we discuss Venice and its food.

A crossroads of culture and commerce since the end of the 11th century, Venice’s international influences are reflected in its cooking. Through adroit political alliances and ruthless machinations, the Venetians held a monopoly on the trade of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and black pepper until the mid-15th century, when a series of events led to other cities (such as Lisbon and Amsterdam) becoming the new spice epicenters of Europe. But the city’s ancient heritage is not forgotten: The food of today’s Venice relies on simplicity and fresh ingredients accented with the subtle use of spices.

And nowhere do ingredients come together better than at the Rialto Market, located on the northwestern side of the famed Rialto Bridge. The market has been a mainstay in Venetian life for nearly a millennium, and locals still go there to load up on fresh fish, fruits, and vegetables.

Until recently, restaurateurs like Luise also shopped at the Rialto Market, navigating the crowded Grand Canal for daily supplies. Now they buy from the modern wholesale markets in the Tronchetto district, where delivery vans and boats have easy access. But on this morning, Luise decides to do his shopping the old-fashioned way, sidling up to the Rialto Bridge in a water taxi.

“The Rialto is the heart of Venice food. It has been for a thousand years,” says Luise as we walk through the chaos and into Sotoportego del Banco Giro, an open-air square that provides a view of the San Giacometto Church and its golden clock hands glowing in the morning sun. Passing through the open space of Campo Cesare Battisti gia della Bella Vienna, we come to Al Marcà and notice that it and the other small bars around the Rialto are already open for drinks.

And coffee isn’t the only thing on the locals’ minds after a hard morning of loading and unloading boxes — a little bit of wine is said to help gird the constitution. We debate whether we should join them for a spritz, the Venetian cocktail of local white wine and an herbal liqueur like Campari garnished with an olive and a wedge of orange. But we’re here to see the market in full swing and decide to continue our explorations instead.

Next door to Al Marcà is Casa del Parmigiano. Regional cheeses, wine, olive oil, and incredible cold cuts make this one of Luise’s favorite food stores; unfortunately it hasn’t opened yet. Continuing on, we round the corner; the market unfolds in front of us on the pale stone plaza. It might be the only time in Venice that I wasn’t distracted by the ever-bustling Grand Canal.

On the left is a butcher with salami d’asino (donkey salami) and another who specializes only in fowl. As we head for the produce vendors, Luise gestures grandly at the vegetables and fruits from Sant’Erasmo island — reputed to grow the most flavorful produce in the area — before announcing, “I don’t need to go farther than here.” We walk up to an artichoke stand, and Luise is entranced by the vendor’s speed as he trims an artichoke down to its heart as if carving a rosette to decorate the portal of San Giacometto Church.

Even next to an aromatic display of pears and figs, we can smell the distinct brininess of seafood. The market devotes an entire hall to frutti di mare, and the aroma permeates the Rialto Market, whetting your appetite for a grilled branzino or skate for breakfast, perhaps with a snifter of grappa. We walk by a table loaded with minuscule shrimp, flipping in their bins like acrobats. I have no idea where that particular batch wound up, but we had some of their brethren later that day for lunch.

From the market, we make our way to the corners of Ruga Rialto and Ruga dei Speziali, where Drogheria Mascari, Venice’s eminent dry goods shop, resides. Here, you get a sense of Venice’s exotic past while shopping for cumin and cardamom. The street is named for the spice vendors, or speziali, who once lined this narrow, hewn-stone walkway peddling their seasonings. Right next door is Carlon, one of the last authentic bakeries in the area and one of Luise’s top choices for breads and baked goods. We buy zaetti, cookies found only in Venice; later in the afternoon we pass by again, and Carlon’s shelves are bare.

In recent years, the Rialto area has been abuzz with bacari, Venetian wine bars offering tapas-size servings called cicheti. Just around the corner from the market, at Campo San Giacometto, we run into Akira, a Brazilian-Japanese chef who serves up sushi and mojitos alongside spritz and baccalà at the hip restaurant Naranzaria. Campo San Giacometto is packed with great spots. On the same side as Naranzaria is Osteria da Andrea Bancogiro, which serves specialties like swordfish with pine nuts, capers, and orange peel. Both eateries have patios overlooking the Grand Canal.

It seems that every place Luise recommends offers a twist on the traditional. A few nights later, as he cooks a special meal of chestnut soup and carpaccio with pineapple and clove at Aromi Restaurant in the Hilton, he explains, “Food never stays the same. It changes with the people and with their economic status. Besides, it’s boring to serve the same thing all the time.”

The next evening, some friends and I stop in at another restaurant recommended by Luise, Taverna del Campiello Remer (the locals know it as Taverna al Remer), across the canal from the market in the Cannaregio area. En route we pass Fiaschetteria Toscana, known for its monkfish cheeks, whole skate, and other tempting seafood dishes.But this would have to wait for another night. Instead, we make a quick left into the alley past Fiaschetteria Toscana and into Taverna al Remer. The effusive French bartender tells us that in centuries past, the stone-walled room used to be a stable for the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo (now the Teatro Malibran), and that most recently it served as a depot for construction materials. Luckily, any evidence of its past lives has disappeared.

Looking around, we spot a rustic, wooden table adorned with an appetizing spread of roasted eggplant, potatoes baked in cream, sautéed mushrooms, and pizza, all compliments of the house. If you come for dinner, chances are there’ll be some items on the menu that simply aren’t available. Instead, you’ll eat whatever is fresh from the market — perhaps a plate of crudo or the tuna steak with balsamic vinegar. In any case, you can’t go wrong with Luise’s advice: Trust the chef.

HOW TO GET THERE
US Airways offers nonstop service from Philadelphia to Venice from April through October.

GETTING AROUND
Because automobiles are not allowed in the city of Venice, your choices of transport are limited to water buses (vaporetti), water taxis, gondolas, traghetti (refurbished gondolas used for crossing the Grand Canal), and walking. Fare and timetables for the water buses and official rates for water taxis can be found at hellovenezia.com.

WHERE TO STAY
Molino Stucky Hilton
This recently renovated five-star hotel on the island of Giudecca offers gorgeous views of the Lagoon.
(011) 39.041.2723.311
molinostuckyhilton.com

Hotel Palazzo Barbarigo sul Canal Grande
Art deco meets old-world elegance in the design of the 18 rooms of this boutique hotel.
800.337.4685
designhotels.com/hotels/europe/italy/venice

Foresteria Valdese di Venezia
A room with two beds and attached bathroom starts at €78 (about $115) at this guesthouse run by the Waldensian and Methodist Church.
(011) 39.041.5286.797
www.foresteriavenezia.it

FOOD AND DRINK
Lineadombra
19 Dorsoduro
(011) 39.041.2411.881
ristorantelineadombra.com

Al Marcà
213 San Polo

Naranzaria
130 San Polo
(011) 39.041.7241.035
naranzaria.it

Osteria da Andrea Bancogiro
122 San Polo
(011) 39.041.5232.061

Aromi
Molino Stucky Hilton
810 Giudecca
(011) 39.041.2723.311

Taverna del Campiello Remer
5701 Cannaregio
(011) 39.349.3365.168

Fiaschetteria Toscana
5719 Cannaregio
(011) 39.041.5285.281
www.fiaschetteriatoscana.it

SHOPS
Rialto Market
San Polo
NW corner Rialto Bridge

Casa del Parmigiano
214/215 San Polo
Erberia Rialto
(011) 39.041.5206.525
aliani-casadelparmigiano.it

Drogheria Mascari
381 San Polo
(011) 39.041.5229.762
imascari.com

Litty Mathew writes from Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, Saveur, the LA Times, and Marie Claire Italia.