well...seems like the (formerly) free Hansa city of Hamburg is not big on Chowhounders' Must-Visit list...so bc will share a brief thought or two.
we stayed (five nights) near the church of St. katharinen...on a small street that had only one restaurant, a pathetic (so it seemed from outside) Spanish.
four dinners and one lunch, we took at places on Deitchstrasse, where there are four or five places specializing in Hamburg recipes (fish, herring in particular, roasted potatoes, beer, the odd breaded pork cutlet,....labskaus seemed in short supply...I'm remembering a particular "saurfleisch" with affection; this is preserved pork in aspic, served in a lock-lid jar with remoulade sauce). I'd mention specific names, except I had the sense you could throw a blanket over them and not tell the difference.
all are welcoming, the food in each one is good, maybe the service can be slow in an american's opinion.
our big-deal meal was at Vlet (https://www.vlet.de/en/ by the city hall; there's a second on
e in HafenCity)...beef tartare to share, wiener schnitzel for me; char for herself, bottle of German Sauv Blanc, total bill a bit over 100 euros...lovely experience.
the must-not-miss specialty in Hamburg (herring aside) is Rote Gruze--a compote of red berries served with quark or cream cheese or vanilla ice cream.
actually, one of the evenings I had herring Deitchstrasse, the sauce with it was whipped cheese ....and lingonberries. pretty cool.

Thanks all for advice, input, thoughts. Some notes on our stay in Venice, July 1-11, 2016.
We did have lunch at Al Covo, as suggested, wonderful experience ...did the fixed-price menu with a bottle of white...every bite a good adventure...
and we did a bit of people-watching from a cafe in Campo Santa Margherita, but which one, I couldn't tell you and I'm not sure it matters....that was a good recommndaiton.
In other notes:
Groceries
Staying near the Piazzale Roma, with a kitchen, we did grocery shopping at the Coop supermarket in the piazzale, and (one time) at the Punto Simply supermarket in Campo Santa Margherita. Both are well-well stocked, nothing that would be out of place in an American Safeway or such. On the whole, the Punto is more charming. The upstairs has a deli. Coop seems much bigger. But we didn't find much to choose between them except on the basis of convenience.
Breakfast pastries
We bought pastries at Panificio Barozzi (Santa Croce, 86) numerous times and enjoyed same; also focaccia with olives, also polpette This is about 50 meters from the famous Tonolo, (which we never did try), across the next bridge to the west.
Bacari
We stopped in to Vinus Venezia one time (www.vinusvenezia.it), drawn by classic blues on the sound system. A half dozen small open faced sandwiches, plus one polpette (polpetto?) and two glasses of white wine each, we danced out.
Big-deal lunches:
On our first Sunday in town, we ventured to the Cannaregio area, and had a terrific meal at Osteria Anice Stellato. http://www.osterianicestellato.com/
• Shared appetizer of eggplant, fig and mackerel
• Shared squid-ink risotto
• Shared mixed fried fish and vegetables
• Rather strange wine: mostly chardonnay, cut with Pinot Grigio, pretty high alcohol for a white, but that slowed us down! .
• Coffee
We would definitely be back....
(side note: at both Anice Stellato and Al Covo, we got quite the sommelier treatment—detailed discussion of the wine makers’ philosophy and techniques, the mix of grapes, etc.)
Another big-deal lunch—this fitting the description of going-out-to-the-country--was on Torcello, at the Osteria della Punte Diabolo...
http://uk.osteriaalpontedeldiavolo.com/
this is between the famous Loncanda Cipriani..which looked a little grim... and the vaporetto stop. It had us seated in a canopied dining area, looking out on a garden and eating: for herself, little shrimps from the lagoon; spaghetti con vongole; “red berry” sorbet; me, carpaccio de manzo; green pasta with lemon, and a kind of almond cookie with lemon crème...bottle of local white, liter of water, two coffees around € 116.

thanks, all for your help...and Jangita: Sebastiano's place was almost perfect!

Jangita has a good point.
I'm looking for advice on a couple of things:
We like (plan whole trips around) having a major meal on Sundays, midday....that is, at a place where it's worth making reservations ahead and spending multiple hours at the table...any advice on Venetian restaurants for such an event?
We do like investing (not "passing") time in cafes with good coffee or drinks, to view the passing scene. Similar question: where in Venice would Chowhounders do that?
I have an urge--maybe should be suppressed--to take a coffee or a drink in Piazza San Marco. Advice on this? Times of day, specific establishments?
We have an apartment for ten days near the Piazzale Roma....advice on markets near there? casual restaurants, cafes or such?

A quick report on the week in Scottsdale...in short, with one exception, everything we ate was at least just-fine; and in some cases, superlative. We would go back to any and every one of the places listed below.
• Oregano’s Pizza Bistro...we shared a great house salad and a pizza with spinach and broccoli. We brought left over pizza back to the hotel room for snacks and it was good even cold (“frat-boy style,” in the better half’s formulation). Fine local beer.
• The Pink Pony...dodged the main point by not having major grilled meats, sharing instead a pretzel & melted-cheese appetizer, herself having a burrata salad, and me ordering a Hot Mess, which I thought would be chopped up stuff with eggs on top, but proved to be an architectural arrangement of crisp tortillas, beans, green chile, etc. I was still thinking about this two days later. Also: a different fine local beer.
• The Courtyard Café at the Heard Museum. Her salad; me, pozole.
• Frasher’s Steak House and Lounge. Herself: I’d forgotten how good filet mignon can be. Me: char-broiled pork chop. BIG sides of al-dente broccoli and a refreshing mixed-grain salad they call “FGT.” Better than potatoes, that one.
• 5th and Wine: we shared plates tapas-style, stuffed mushroom caps, bruschettas (two, each cut in thirds), a lamb burger that the kitchen divided for us, bottle of Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon...
• Don and Charlie’s: more sports memorabilia than I thought existed in the whole world. Broccoli as a side dish to ribs!, choice of kinds of slaw!, whoever heard of such a thing. She had charred ribs, I had standard, both a lot of fun. Too much main course to consider appetizers or dessert... and damn! If they didn’t have great music on the sound system, serious jazz and a lot of it.
The exception: Anchor Lager beer at Scottsdale Stadium...which...well, we’re all (I trust) big fans of Anchor Brewing Company, their Steam Beer was the first major craft beer, Celebration Ale is quite good, their Christmas brews are a lot of fun. But the lager? A disappointment—which applies, as well, to the half case of it, sitting in the cold room of my house in San Francisco.