Dinner at Venissa

The story on how I came to visit Venissa - the subject of today's review - captures perfectly just how difficult it can be to plan a trip with more than one person,  separated by multiple time zones. When the Madre and I were creating the shortlist of restaurants in Venice for which we wished to visit, I mentioned Venissa as a top choice. Clearly she did more research than I did, because her response was not wanting to dine at a restaurant that required a close to 30 minute water taxi. I agreed, and I figured the subject was closed.

It is possible to get to Venissa via Vaporetto - Venice's water buses. Just
give yourself plenty of time!

Fast forward a few months, to the eve of departing for Italy. Our itinerary had been set, and Venissa was on the list. I gave it no second thought, completely lapsing on the transportation challenges of this restaurant. It appears the Madre did as well.

At our hotel in Venice, we approached the concierge, and inquired on the best way to get to tomorrow's dinner. A blank stare met us, and then the exposition started. Thank goodness we asked the night before, because the trek to Mazzorbo island would require roughly over a half hour on a water taxi. The cost: over one hundred euros... each way. Immediately we remembered why we weren't supposed to have a reservation. What we didn't remember is why we changed our mind?

Transportation costs aside, it is by divine providence that we were able to find ourselves at Venissa for dinner on Day 2 of this trip. Venissa is the Michelin-starred restaurant of the wine resort that shares the same namesake. The restaurant offers both a la carte, and multiple tasting menus with prices between €120 for 5 courses, to €190 for 9 courses. For those wanting the full enchilada, wine pairings can be added on for €50 to €90, depending on the tasting menu selected. There is also the "Venissa" wine pairing for an additional €40.

At the helm of Venissa is Chef Francisco Brutto: Le Guide de L'Espresso's 2017 best young Italian chef award winner. Chef Brutto actually works at two restaurants, spending almost all of his time at his place Undicesimo Vineria in nearby Treviso. What allows him this schedule is the quality of his team at Venissa, led by by Sous Chef Chiara Pavan. 

A clean, modern aesthetic pairs perfectly with the avant-garde nature of
Chef Francesco Brutto's menu

In fact, it was Chef Pavan who greeted us personally after we had been seated in the small-yet-airy and modern dinning room. Tables sported a clean gray, while floors were a brown and navy tile. Interior side walls sported a nice off-white, transitioning to a vaulted wood ceiling that added more volume to the space. The interior wall separating the kitchen from the dining room sported dark wood wine and drink-ware storage. Finally, the main exterior wall was of glass, overlooking a wonderful patio area that would be delightful on a summer afternoon. 

After the split second of taking in the ambiance, I focused back on Chef Pavan's description of the menu. Leaving us to decide, we came to the decision of the molto avant-garde nine course menu, along with a nice bottle of white wine from nearby Friuli-venezia Giulia (Sadly the varietal escapes me). Served with some grissini - those long and thin Italian bread sticks that you cannot get enough of at your neighborhood trattoria - our culinary journey commenced. 

A collection of amuse-bouches from the kitchen
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

Kicking off tonight's tourney was a collection of amuse-bouches, including a salmon taco, squid 'ceviche', chip and lettuce, and (what I think was) salmon 'chicharrón' (fried salmon skin) topped with a little aioli. This spread is an outstanding example of the value amuse-bouches can bring to a meal. Here we have an assortment of little bites with various flavors and textures that peak one's curiosity as to what dishes are to come. The chip and lettuce offered a nice crunch texture, while the salmon taco added a little bitter notes, while the squid featured amazing citrus elements. What a nice way to start off the meal!

Green mullet carpaccio style with beet, beet purée
and grapefruit purée
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

With the amuse-bouche presentation cleared, we move on to the first entrée in tonight's menu: green mullet carpaccio style. This was served with sliced beet root, and then garnished with beet root purée and grapefruit purée. All was plated on a simple white plate, reinforcing the clean aesthetics of the dining room.

The mullet was super tender, served incredibly thin in the traditional carpaccio style, while offering subtle saline notes. This paired nicely with the earthy flavors coming from the beet root, and to a lesser extent, the beet root purée. The grapefruit purée added refreshing bitter notes, bringing everything into balance. Finally, the colors of the two purées add to a very nice aesthetic on the white plate backdrop.

Aubergine cooked in chili oil, served with yogurt
and pomegranate sauce
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

Coming next on tonight's lineup is aubergine - eggplant - cooked in chili oil. This was served topped with pomegranate sauce and dollops of yogurt.

The eggplant was dynamite, sporting subtle chili notes atop it's classic rich and decadent flavor profile from the sautéed preparation. The pomegranate reduction offered not just sweet notes, but a striking visual set to the white backdrop. And finally, the yogurt rounded out the dish by adding creamy notes to the mix. A simply outstanding dish!

Mackerel with smoked caviar
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

Following the aubergine was grilled mackerel, topped with some grilled herbs, and three huge dollops of smoked caviar. Joining in on the fun was some drizzles of bay leaf purée, and a beautiful stripe of pumpkin seed purée.

Simply outstanding. The mackerel was perfectly grilled, with nice balanced sea flavor. The caviar picks up on that, lending its own salty brininess. This was balanced by the sweet nutty notes of the pumpkin seed purée, while the bay leaf purée - a preparation I have never seen before - lent herbaceous flavors. Such a wide assortment of flavors, combined with beautiful aesthetics. Just wonderful!

Tagliatelle 'algae' with oyster sauce
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

Moving forward, the next dish in the line-up is also the first pasta dish. Here we have tagliatelle made with algae! This came served with a dousing of oyster sauce.

Pasta can be made with quite a few ingredients to add colors and subtle undertones of flavor. Squid ink and spinach are two common ones that come to mind. But algae? This was something new.

And quite honestly, I didn't really discern what the algae was offering. But that didn't matter, because the pasta was a perfect al dente, and the oyster sauce provided its beautiful oyster flavor.

Tortellini with fermented tamarind, cream and angostura
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

Tonight's second pasta dish was a tortellini filled with fermented tamarind. This was served with a cream sauce featuring angostura, the herbal bitters found in many famous cocktails such as the Manhattan.

Again, here we have a dish that shows just delightful balance of flavors. The tortellini themselves were cooked perfectly, while the fermented tamarind offered a nice balance of sweet and sour with a touch of acid. This partners wonderfully with the herbal bitter notes of the angostura. Finally, the cream in the sauce adds some body and richness that isn't too overwhelming because of the acid in the tamarind. Simple... wonderful... Brava!

Spaghetti with pine nut cream sauce and pine oil
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

Following up the tortellini is tonight's final pasta dish. Spaghetti with pine nut cream sauce. What caught my attention was the inclusion of pine tree oil in the sauce. Pine tree oil; this would be another first!

No surprise, the pasta was al dente. The pine nut addition to the cream sauce lent a wonderful toasty essence to the richness of the cream. This contrasted with the pine notes of the pine tree oil, which was reminiscent of freshly cut pine wood. Thankfully, the pine essence didn't overpower the dish, instead offering a unique flavor that is a trademark of a superior restaurant.

Veal tongue with three plums and two sauces
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

The pine-centric spaghetti dish ended the pasta chapter in tonight's meal, and was followed by our first terrestrial entrée. Veal tongue with three plums, accompanied by a two sauces. The darker sauce was a veal sauce, while the lighter one a fish sauce.

Aesthetically, this dish was presented beautifully in a slightly abstract sort of way. Deep pink of the perfectly cooked veal set in an offset triangle, with dollops of darker veal sauce, and drizzle of lighter fish sauce.

Roasted Jerusalem artichoke with fried cabbage leaf
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia 

And this dish tasted as great as it looked. The veal was incredibly tender, while providing that rich sweet-yet-slightly-gamy flavor that makes veal so delightful. The pieces of plum offer balance to the dish, yielding notes of both sweet and bitterness. In concert with the rich veal sauce, and subtle saline essence of the fish sauce; everything just comes together to offer wonderful depth of flavor. Elegant, and outstanding.

After the clearing of the veal plate, we were presented with a vegetable dish. Roasted Jerusalem artichoke, with fried cabbage leaf and a collection of sauces (one featuring black tea, and another featuring cabbage if I can read my notes right). The artichoke was perfectly roasted, while the fried cabbage leaf offered nice crisp texture, and a touch of salt with its herbaceous notes. Both sauces added nice diversity of flavors, adding depth to this vegetable course. Excellent!

Grapefruit ice cream with olive crunch and oregano powder
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

The roasted artichoke dish was a nice transition entrée between the veal tongue and tonight's desert line-up. The first was grapefruit ice cream, featuring olive crunch and oregano powder. This may be the first time I have had olives in any kind of desert, so let's see what we have here.

The grapefruit ice cream was the perfect palate cleanser, with its beautiful citrus notes and slight sourness. Bringing it into balance was a wonderful creaminess reminiscent of homemade ice cream. Oregano powder offered a nice herbaceous element, akin to green tea ice cream. And the olive crunch brought it all together with its earthy flavor and texture.

Sweet corn semifredo and crumble
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

Tonight's finale consisted of sweet corn semifredo and crumble. This was served with white chocolate ice cream. For added flavor, it was garnished with Italian herb sauce.

This dish sported gorgeous maize flavors, balanced nicely by the slightly bitter herbaceous notes of the Italian herb sauce. White chocolate offered a bit more sweetness, as well as overt creaminess. Finally, the sweet corn crumble added a nice bit of texture to the softer ice cream and semifredo. Overall, an excellent desert, and  wonderful way to cap off the meal.

A collection of mignardises
2017 Venissa. Venezia, Italia

With the final desert dish cleared, and a small selection of mignardises put out to nibble, it was a moment to reflect on such a wonderful meal. Every preparation was exceptional, as it should be when dining at a restaurant of this caliber. What really sets Venissa apart is its endeavor to demonstrate how avant-garde can be a compliment to tradition, and not mutually exclusive. Like pairing fermented tamarind with angostura, and classic tortellini pasta. Or spaghetti with pine nut cream and pine tree oil. It's as if they started every dish with something established, and then asked themselves: "where can we take this next?"  To me, that's the exciting part. Like extending one's vacation to their palate!

As for service, it was top notch. I previously mentioned that Chef Pavan greeted us at the beginning, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that she stopped by while we nibbled on the mignardises and chatted for a bit. When we told her where we were going for the rest of the trip, she even gave us restaurant recommendations. She is just a wonderful person, who I would love to call on again if and when I am back in the lagoon.

When it's all said and done, Venissa is a must-visit restaurant if one ever finds themselves in Venice. Either suck it up and ball out with the water taxi each way, or I would suggest taking the vaporetti for the outbound leg, and water taxi on the way back to save some coin. Your patience with the location will be rewarded with an amazing gastronomic journey where tradition is embraced and expanded upon with each and every bite. 

Dining date: September 25, 2017