Locanda Cipriani
Torcello - Venice
www.locandacipriani.com
Piazza Santa Fosca, 29
30142 Torcello - Venice
041-730-150
Review copyright - Ginda Simpson
On the quiet, unspoiled island of Torcello in the Venetian lagoon, one finds the vividly painted inn and restaurant, Locanda Cipriani, a short walk from the ferry landing along a lovely bricked pathway that follows the curve of the main canal, flanked on either side by green fields. Immersed in a sumptuous garden, with a view of Torcello’s two churches and the bell tower, the inn was a favorite refuge for Ernest Hemingway in 1948, as he wrote parts of Across the River and Into the Trees. Giuseppe’s grandson, Bonifacio Brass, is the current owner and he adheres to the vision that his grandfather had for the Locanda, keeping its six rooms, simple yet elegant, a décor that reflects an ease of country style hospitality and warmth, a place where each guest is made to feel comfortably at home.
One need not stay the
night to enjoy what the Locanda is best known for, and that is its
restaurant, open for lunch and dinner.
Tables spill out of the inn’s dining room to a sun-filled patio,
enveloped in a garden of roses and pomegranates, lavender and climbing
jasmine, trumpet vines and hydrangeas – a veritable haven, where the air
is pure and silken. The food,
the fish, the vegetables are local and intensely fresh.
The Venetian specialty Sarde en Saor set the tone for a meal
that was creative, yet uncomplicated, and utterly divine. The Pinot Grigio,
bottled especially for the Locanda, carried us well throughout our
seafood-based meal that included such original dishes as black gnocchetti,
made with squid ink and spider crabs with fried zucchini flowers.
A meal at the Locanda is satisfying in every way – body and soul.
It is not at all surprising that visitors return year after year!