As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been going up to Venice a lot lately. I love Venice, and so it doesn’t take much to get me there. But I hadn’t been in the last year or so, and thought a trip was long due.
That, plus the fact that I’m writing a new app. Yes, EAT VENICE is almost done. So many of you have asked for a Venice version of Eat Italy and EAT FLORENCE, that I figured the time was right. I’m just finishing up the last bits and pieces, and hoping it will hit the App Store in mid January.
Just in case you’re wondering: yes, I do eat in pretty much all the places I write about. So that meant a lot of eating in the last few months. (Loving my Eileen Fisher stretchy pants these days) But I’m also going back and looking at notes of places I’ve been to in Venice over the last few years. And one of the most amazing dining experiences I had was at Venissa.
While I was always planning on including Venissa in Eat Venice, this choice was confirmed a few weeks ago when the restaurant received a Michelin Star.
Venissa is not, strictly speaking, in Venice. The restaurant and attached locanda are located on the island of Mazzorbo. If you’ve never heard of Mazzorbo, don’t worry. Not many people have. It’s a tiny island in the lagoon, connected to Burrano by a bridge. And before Venissa, there really was not much reason to go there. No restaurant, no shops. Just the feeling of having stepped back in time and into a rural agricultural landscape that happens to be in the middle of the lagoon. In other words, the complete flip side of the Venice you know.
Venissa was the brainchild of Bisol, makers of some of the best prosecco and wine in the Valdobbiadene. They won the city of Venice’s competition to run the estate on Mazzorbo, and have turned it into something truly magical. Working together with local agronomists, they have managed to revive one of the oldest vineyards in the Veneto as well as the walled vegetable gardens. Today in addition to the hotel and restaurant, there is also a center for agricultural research, vocational training and an education center.
I had the great pleasure of staying there for two full days. While I love the drama and beauty of Venice, my time on Mazzorbo made me want to buy a house and spend the rest of my life on the lagoon. The combination of being on a farm, but also on the sea, was so magical that it’s hard to describe. I woke up each morning to the sound of a rooster. In the early morning light I walked around the perimeter of the entire island, where if I looked one way I saw old men tending artichoke patches, and if I looked the other I saw fishermen laying out nets.
While the island and the life there is from another century, the restaurant is definitely part of this one. When I was there Paula Budel, the chef, had established a menu that was firmly rooted in the seasonal and local products of the lagoon. Much of the produce came straight from the municipal vegetable garden located right outside the door of the restaurant, or else from nearby San Erasmus to the south. Wild greens, miniscule onions, local fish and seafood, and fresh cheeses all turned into the exquisite dishes that have since earned the restaurant a star.
I would certainly suggest staying at Venissa. The handful of rooms are modern and beautifully designed, but are not super fancy (and so pretty affordable) and give you an opportunity to get to know Mazzorbo. Burrano is only a short walk away, across the charming wooden bridge, and Torcello is easily reached by boat.
If you do stay overnight, the breakfast is one of the best I’ve ever had anywhere, ever. Freshly made pastries and vegetable/fruit juices, heavenly yoghurt and jams made from local berries and fruit.
If you don’t stay at Venissa, but want to experience it anyway, it’s very easy to get to Mazzorbo from Venice. You can come for lunch or dinner, or else just stop by for a drink on your way to Burrano. A glass of Bisol prosecco, some crostini from the kitchen, as you watch the sun set over the field of cabbages and artichokes. What’s not to like about that? 
Venissa Ristorante Ostello
Fondamenta Santa Caterina, 3,
30170 Isola di Mazzorbo
Venezia Italy
[email protected]
Tel. +39 041.52.72.281
Fax +39 041.52.72.323
GPS: 45.439639, 12.322887
(Why the GPS? Because if you are cruising around, you can drive your boat directly to their dock)
For more information about eating in Venice download my app, EAT VENICE, available at iTunes.
Are those sardines on the interesting spoons? Looks delicious!
Yes, they are. And yes, they were.
Shoot. Wish that the app were ready now. We’re in Venice in two weeks and decent eating can be tricky there.
Sorry!! Try over at Chowhound. I’m there to answer questions, as well as a few locals.
@JDeQ – Osteria alle Testiere, Calle del Mondo Nuovo, 5801
http://www.osterialletestiere.it Reservation a must.
Hit al Covo or Corte Sconta
I love the country, my husband loves the sea. This just went on my “bucket list.” I love your apps and I’m glad to hear about the new one!
So glad to read this post today – we loved Venissa when we visited 2 years ago and cannot wait to return! Thanks for the Monday morning smile!
I’ve been to Venice many times, and if I could, I would live there. After my last visit, I wrote the following:
The magic of Venice is in the eye of the beholder; not all will partake of its beauty in the same way; some not at all.
To sit at a table in Piazza San Marco during the day or early evening, or when dark comes over the city, all are totally different experiences, but to arrive at sunrise when only the sweepers are there – magic.
Daytime – hordes of tourists flock to the square. Sitting at a table on the sidelines allows you to observe them and to be, but not to be, part of that crowd.
In the early evening, the day-trippers have departed and the square has relaxed. The bands play and their music floats through the piazza.
But it’s later when night has taken over and the bands continue, and now lights shine on the Basilica and the Campanile, and the historic buildings opposite your table, then quietude has taken over the Piazza San Marco – magic.
Water, water, everywhere you look; not a car, motorcycle, or truck in sight. Small canals, large canals, the Grand Canal, the larger Giudecca Canal. All of them with boats of every description: Police, ambulances, hearses, and personal motorboats parked in front of homes. Water taxis, vaporetti, gondolas, barges laden with food, or wine, or beer and soda, and then, there are the cruise ships and freighters that you glide by on your way to The Lido – magic.
To find yourself lost in an alley after you’ve crossed numerous bridges, only to find that the route you chose doesn’t appear to have an exit, and there’s no one to ask for directions, but then you see an opening cut into a building that you walk through, and a few steps later you are in a huge campo with children playing and ladies clad in black sitting on the sole bench there – magic.
Last year, in May, I had the occasion to eat at the Narazarina restaurant situated directly on the Grand Canal. It’s just past the Rialto market, on the San Polo side; the tables were outside on the embankment.
When it got dark, and the window lights in the buildings across the canal came on, they shimmered on the water; then as the tide started to rise and the water began to have tiny waves made by passing water taxis and vaporetti, it lapped up onto the stones our table sat on. The more movement the boats made, the more the water was churned, and the more the flickering lights sparkled – magic.
THE MAGIC OF VENICE by Ron Bruguiere – June 21, 2009
Favorite hotel with a view of the Grand Canal ?
Had a twin at the Monaco and Grand Canal a number of years ago. Spectacular view.
I will definitely try this when I am next in Venice. I have been to Burano a few times, but didn’t know about the island nearby, thank you.
Best place to stay in Venice?
In the Dorsoduro, it’s the quietest of Venice’s six sestieri.
Elizabeth, I am so happy to know your app will be ready for our trip in June! I have used both Rome and Florence apps with great pleasure. Will you please include shopping for food ideas? We are finally going to rent an apartment in the canareggio. It has been so hard on previous trips to look at the bounty in the market and have to settle for restaurant food!
Congrats! Everything looks so delicious. You made me feel hungry!
I was planning to eat here in my upcoming trip to Venice. However, I was informed that they have a new chef (not sure who) so it appears Paola has left. It will be interesting to see what the menu will be like with the new chef in place and whether Venissa will be able to maintain the high standard that I have so often read about.
Yes, sad but true. Paola has left. But I have hopes that things will be good. Looking forward to trying it in the Spring.
We ate dinner there last Sunday night and it was very special. The new chef and her team are doing a great job.
I’m so sad! I just read this on the ferry over to burano and it sounded so magical I decided to stop at Mazzorbo first instead, but the restaurant is closed currently, like so many places I’ve tried to go to during this trip. Such a bummer. I think they’re closed til March 1.
Yes, unfortunately they close in the winter. Which makes it very difficult for them to keep the restaurant consistent from year to year.