Venice deserves restaurants that are as spectacular as the scenery. With the arrival of GLAM Restaurant, Palazzo Venart, that’s now the case. Enrico Bartolini is Italy’s youngest ever two Michelin star chef, gaining his first star at age 29 and another at 33. Now he has opened his first restaurant in Venice, which has already been awarded two Michelin stars.
GLAM Restaurant at Palazzo Venart, Venice
Located in Palazzo Venart, a new 5 star hotel, GLAM is a real hidden gem. The 16th century Venetian palazzo is one of only 2 in the city with a garden directly overlooking the Grand Canal and you can arrive by water taxi if you wish.
Being off the beaten path in Venice, the hotel feels very exclusive. Before our meal, the General Manager kindly showed us around the hotel. It’s a labour of love for the owners who have furnished the palazzo with exquisite antiques.
Each of the 18 rooms and suites has its own charm and modern conveniences have been seamlessly integrated. Part of the LDC luxury hotel group, it’s their first property in Venice.
You can enjoy a glass of Prosecco wine in the drawing room before heading downstairs for dinner. The restaurant manager, Angelo, introduced himself to us and led us into the cosy dining room.
Our dinner at GLAM Restaurant began with a fantastic selection of amuse-bouche, as pleasing to the eye as they were on the palate. The vegetables had a wonderful crunchiness and the truffled egg was also a highlight.
Glam Restaurant Tasting Menu
We sampled the tasting menu, which promises 6 distinctive tastes. Venice is known for its seafood and our sardines in saor didn’t disappoint. Saor is a sweet and sour recipe with the sardines marinated in vinegar, white onions, raisins and pine nuts.
A yellow courgette and herb salad really did justice to these fresh ingredients.
Our starters went perfectly with a Bellavista Alma Gran Cuvée Franciacorta Brut, a full bodied sparkling wine from the Lombardy region. With notes of apricot and pears, it’s extremely well balanced.
Our first course was a superb risotto with porcini mushrooms and an innovative curry sauce – not something that we’d immediately associate with a risotto but it works!
We also tried a delicious traditional roast ravioli with sage. The pasta was cooked al dente to just the right level and I loved the simplicity of this dish.
For our main course, we savoured a tender fillet of beef on a bed of pumpkin purée.
It was accompanied by an aromatic red wine, Le Due Terre Sacrisassi Rosso 2013. Aged in French oak barrels, it’s an unusual blend of 50% Refosco 50% Schioppettino grapes. The ruby red colour and accents of ripe berries made it very special. It lingered in the mouth and in my memory long after we’d finished it.
A creamy pre-dessert was balanced by fruit purée and crunchy nuts. Enrico clearly has a real skill in marrying different textures to create a harmonious whole. His dishes are layered in the sense that you will discover new sensations with every mouthful.
It was accompanied by a Vignalta Sirio Colli Euganei Moscato Secco Doc 2015. Just look at the beautiful colour of this dessert wine. This type of Italian wine is from the Veneto area, close to Padua. Winemaker Luciano Gomiero popularized dry Moscato in the region, lobbying the Italian government to create the Colli Euganei Moscato DOC.
Our chocolatey dessert could well be my favourite dish of the evening. Hazelnut ice cream combined with lukewarm chocolate cream to great effect.
It’s hard to convey the sheer pleasure that a meal here entails but all aspects come together to ensure a faultless experience. Service is friendly, knowledgeable and unobtrusive, the decor is stunning and the food and wine are faultless.
We ended our dinner with some delectable petit-fours and coffee. We rather embarrassingly asked for a cappuccino, having momentarily forgotten that Italians never order these after midday. As soon as the words were out of our mouth, we remembered this but our friendly waiter said that customer can order whatever they want…now that’s service!
We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about this Venice hidden gem – GLAM Restaurant definitely lives up to its name.
Do you have any favourite Venice restaurants?
Check out our recommendations for other things to do in Italy.
GLAM Restaurant and Bar, Palazzo Venart, Santa Croce 1961, 30135 Venice , Italy
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That pasta sounds incredible and each dish looks as stunning as you describe it!
I normally avoid pasta in the evening but I couldn’t resist this one!
We loved the fact that there were Venetian specialties but given a contemporary twist
The ravioli! Everything looks perfect. I didn’t know about the cappuccino rule until an Italian friend once pointed it out to me.
The capuccino thing makes sense I guess as having a milky drink in the evening is quite heavy. Loved the ravioli
Will you take me there one day? Please, please! Seems like an amazing place to dine out!
It’s fantastic, Agness – I’m sure you’d love it – and let me know if you’re visiting London
I’ve not yet been to Venice, although I do love Italy and pretty much everything I’ve ever eaten there. Would love to visit the GLAM restaurant and stay at the Palazzo Venart. Thx for introducing us to them.
Venice has to be seen to be believed, it really feels like you’re on a film set and the food here lives up to the surroundings, Doreen
Good food, good wine and yummy desserts. This is heaven.
It certainly was, Lux – have a great week ahead
I love visiting historical palaces and this sounds like the perfect place to spend an evening. The yellow courgette and herb salad looks like a piece of art on a plate and how interesting to hear of risotto with porcini mushrooms and curry sauce – I would love to give that a try!
Risotto with curry sauce sounds strange but it definitely works! Everything was so beautifully presented
The presentation of this food is incredible, I was drawn to the feature image on this post and had to click!
Gorgeous looking restaurant.
Laura xo
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