This review is a little long, so the tl;dr is - if you are a cocktail enthusiast, you must find the time to go this bar - a few times if possible. Seriously, do it. And if you can, do it closer to 6 so you can sit at the bar and talk to the staff.
Now, onto the detailed part. I consider myself to be a pretty serious cocktail enthusiast and I've been to craft, prohibition and tiki cocktail bars in many different countries. I have seldom been to a bar more full or heart, passion, and importantly, extremely excellent, thoughtful and spirit-respectful drinks.
Atmosphere wise, Il Mercante is well-situated on Rio Frari, directly across from the Frari Church. Lacy wrought iron balustrades and an oval opening to the second floor make this one of the most attractive bar spaces in Venice and they go out of their way to make the decorations feel like a classic bar with a roaring 1920's flair. There are only six stools at the bar itself, and you're liable to bang your knees against the bar as there's little leg room, but if you can and you care about cocktail culture, sit at the bar if humanly possible.
Now for the staff, because let's face it, a good bartender makes the bar. Because we went to this bar four times in the three days we were in Venice, we managed to be served by each of Il Mercante's four bartenders - Valentina, who does a fierce long-distance cross-shaker pour worthy of any old-time American soda shoppe, was immediately friendly and patient with my broken Italian and welcomed us as regulars from our second visit. Dario not only served us skillfully crafted cocktails but was more than willing to make suggestions (in excellent English) of other cocktail bars to try in Venice (spoiler alert: Il Mercante soars high above the rest.)
Next up, Daniele, who wields a shaker and bar spoon like he was born with them in his hands. His technique is masterful and he would be at home in any major bar in New York or San Francisco.
Last, but certainly not least is Bar Manager Alessandro, who made us feel at home and was eager to share his menu and his advice for bar recommendations all over Italy. When we showed we had some knowledge about spirits and that we were really serious about working our way through their whole craft menu, the stops came out and he treated us to shots of Nikka Coffey Whisky and Pusser's Rum and explained in detail the reasoning behind each of his cocktails and their pairings.
Now to the menu itself. It's worth mentioning a few things here: The menu we drank from had two sections - a "Journey" with cocktails themed after the journey of Sir Francis Drake and a menu of favorites that they keep around because they are popular. We had all of them, just to be sure.
The menu, as of the third week of October 2019, is changing entirely, so I suspect if you come here you won't experience the same cocktails we did. That being said, considering the care and attention the staff put into this menu, I'm sure the next one will be just as good, if not better. Each drink we enjoyed came with a small bite pairing - more like an edible garnish than a tapa. Most of the pairings were successes, some were not. But the team was very vocal about the fact that this was a new thing they were trying and it was a growth experience for them. The cocktails themselves were masterworks of balance - floral and saline, bitter and sweet, sour and smokey.
A few highlights -
Flowers and Thorns: a gin based cocktail with elderflower, clarified grapefruit juice, rose moscato, sea salt saline and black pepper. Light and perfectly balanced between sweet, floral and spicy.
The Corsair: Cognac, applejack, Dijon mustard, celery leaf, spirulina, lemon juice, absinthe, peach. This was served with a honey caviar with a Gorgonzola foam. This drink was my favorite despite sounding really overwrought.
The Reef: Nikka Coffey Whisky infused with peppers is the base of this drink with clarified mango, homemade pimento dram and lavender. Served with a spherified peach yogurt "oyster" that was a gem on its own.
Malabar: cardamom infused Vermouth, gin, pineapple, lemon, mint and curry powder. Could have been overbearing, but the curry was just right.
Food-wise the selection is light. They provide peanuts and corn-nuts and of course the edible garnishes. They also have a fair selection of quite good cicchetti but they seem to sell out before 8pm. They're happy to recommend restaurants nearby as well.
Il Mercante is special. I have to admit when we were leaving for the last time, I was wistful, and Alessandro shook our hands and thanked us genuinely for our patronage. I wish there were more places like Il Mercante out there. It is a bar with a spirit much bigger than the small piece of the Venice it occupies and I'm leaving a little piece of my heart there. I'm sure some day we'll be back to try another cocktail journey Alessandro and crew have prepared. read more
