I am passionate about Venice - it just happened. I did not need to try (I just needed to be there).
(Can I just add here that a friend who has been reading the comments recently said 'How did they all get to be so wise?')
I loved the cookery book Polpo as much for it's information about Venice as for the food and knew that I would want to eat cicheti at a bacaro (see the Polpo story here) - the kind of place Venetians will stop at on the way home from work, maybe with a colleague or meeting a friend, for a glass of local wine or a spritz and some delicious small snacks. I was delighted to find that one of Russell Norman's recommended bacari was on the street right below our apartment!