Locanda Cipriani Torcello, Venice, 3/1/19

building
building

Locanda Cipriani is on the island of Torcello, a short water bus ride from the main island of Venice.  You enter into a tiny old looking lounge room with seating around a fireplace that is used for cooking and warmth.  From there you move into a large open room surrounded by windows to the outside gardens and views of the local churches.  The place backs to 1935 and is still owned by the Cipriani family.  Hemingway stayed at the associated inn and brought much fame to the place who was then followed by a number of famous visitors such as Queen Elizabeth II in 1938 and in 1985 the Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles and Diana (who came for a private lunch a year after the Queen had brought the Queen Mother there), Maria Callas in 1952 and Marc Chagall in 1948 who left behind one of his drawings.  The list of famous people and acclaimed artists goes on and on throughout their 70 year history.  The nice sized tables are fairly closely spaced and covered with white linens with many of the smaller tables having a draped service table adjacent.

front
front

Fresh flowers are on each table and no music is in the background.  Overhead the ceiling is filled with wood beams and the walls are covered with art, copper pots and photos.  Service was excellent, friendly and all spoke great English, but the good pacing at the start of the meal slowed way down toward the end.  The large menu includes a couple set menus but mostly a la carte options.  Much of the service is tableside with your food coming out on serving plates and the staff dividing it or otherwise preparing it for plating tableside.  It was an interesting affect but my casual side would have preferred having the dish set on our table and letting us serve ourselves if the kitchen chose not to plate it.

interior
interior
interior
interior
interior
interior
interior
“lounge” room
interior
interior
interior
dining room interior
looking out at gardens
looking out at gardens
Frankie found a flower
Frankie found a flower
menu cover
menu cover
menu 1
menu 1
menu 2
menu 2
menu 3
menu 3
menu 4
menu 4
menu 6
menu 5
history
history
loooking out at gardens
looking out at gardens
servcie tables by many tables
service tables by many tables
looking out at gardens
looking out at gardens
Frankie found a logo on everything
Frankie found a logo on everything

 

We started with a negroni cocktail while looking over our choices.  A basket of bread options came out with regular butter and a mascarpone spread.  The short breadsticks were crisp and fun but otherwise the bread was unremarkable.

Frankie ordered a negroni
Frankie ordered a negroni
table set up
table set up
bread and butter
bread and butter, spread
bread bassket
bread basket
butter
butters

 

The capesante (scallops) was with artichoke,  both of which were nicely cooked  and sitting on a tasty pumpkin sauce.  The  artichoke heart was the base of the structure.

shrimp
scallop and artichoke
side
side
close
closer
close
closer
turned
turned
wine
wine
Frankie and another fiend
Frankie and another friend

 

Fiori di Zucchina Ripien was zucchini squash blossoms that  were stuffed with shrimp and set on a zucchini sauce.  They were lightly coated and nicely crisp on the exterior.  There was a slight spice in the filling that went well with the sauce.  It was mild overall but a good starter.

squash blossoms
squash blossoms
closer
closer
closer
closer
inside
inside
Frankie recognized the brand of water
Frankie checked out the water

 

The Risotto Torcellana was a vegetable risotto made with zucchini, peppers, artichokes and asparagus that I could detect with a little spice in it.  It was divided tableside and remained nicely runny with a perfect al dente rice.  The creamy texture was lovely.  They offered additional pepper or cheese but it needed no further seasoning.

risotto plated tableside
risotto plated tableside
ready to serve
ready to serve
plated
risotto plated
closer
closer
Frankie and the table flowers
Frankie and the table flowers

 

We each had pan seared “ombrina” escalope with cherry tomatoes, taggiasca olives and fresh basil.  It came with a potato cake on the side.  Ombrina is a large flake fish and some of the pieces were fairly thick and very moist.  A slightly thickened sauce with olives and tomatoes was seasoned with rosemary.  The tomatoes were very sweet and the fish was like velvet.    It was a wonderful plate of food.

fish to be plated
fish to be plated
closer
closer
plated tableside
plated tableside
much care taken
much care taken
as served
fish as served
turned
turned
turned
turned
fish
fish
inside
inside potato cake
Frankie couldn't find any leftovers
Frankie couldn’t find any leftovers

 

For dessert we split a slice of warm apple and hazelnut cake with soft cinnamon sauce.  It also had a dollop of whipped cream on the side.  The moist cake  was topped with powdered sugar and both sauces were good with the cake.  It was not overly sweet but just enough sweet with fun texture to be satsifying.

dessert drinks
dessert drink menu
dessert menu
dessert menu
Frankie couldn't forget where she was
Frankie couldn’t forget where she was
pie
apple and hazelnut cake with soft cinnamon sauce
turned
turned
turned
turned
sauce
sauce
Frankie found Elton John's photo and message to restaurant
Frankie found Elton John’s photo and message to the restaurant

 

Lastly they brought out carnival treats of warm granulated sugar coated frittale and puffed dough with powdered sugar.  They were both tasty and went well with coffee.

carnival treats
carnival treats
closer
closer
another angle
another angle
Frankie sniffed it
Frankie sniffed it
bridge in town
bridge in town
painting of the plate
painting of the place
Frankie making friends
Frankie making friends
old photos
old photos of visitors
Photo of when Di and Charles visited
Photo of when Di and Charles visited
Letter of appreciation from Queen Mother's Lady-in-Waiting
Letter of appreciation from Queen Mother’s Lady-in-Waiting
Frankie posed with the photos of royal visitors
Frankie posed with the photos of royal visitors
drawing of fireplace
drawing of fireplace
fireplace/cooker
fireplace/cooker
Frankie and the chef
Frankie and a chef statue

Leave a Reply