Venice has been a destination of incredible contrasts and intertwined complexities for centuries, and this legacy continues to this day. Venice is where the summer heat and the canal aromas overwhelm, autumns and winters are rainy, and the Aqua Alta threatens, where St. Mark’s square is overrun by tourists in high season or worse: pigeons. Venice is also a destination of historical wonder, mysterious alleys, tranquil piazzas, majestic cathedrals, and unending splendor. To call it special is an understatement. “It’s Disneyland for grownups!” a friend used to declare. Venice is a place where the tiniest cup of espresso at the base of the Rialto can smooth away the stresses of exploring the local market and a quick glass of prosecco and a nibble of cicchetti before dashing off to a gallery opening is pure heaven. Definitely a magical kingdom, and when the opportunity presented itself to return well, the call was impossible to resist.
An Island of its Own
Isola San Clemente, the island home of the San Clemente Palace Kempinski Venice, was my destination and Acquerello, the hotel’s much-lauded restaurant, the source of my anticipated gustatory delights. The Palazzo itself was a former monastery from the 12th Century, surrounded by 15 acres of mature, lovingly cultivated gardens. The island itself is just a short 10-minute ride from unruly San Marco, but it seemed more than a world away. For those staying elsewhere who merely want to visit and try the bar, or Acquerello, or just find serenity, perhaps at the Merchant of Venice spa, their boat transfer runs every half hour from Piazza San Marco and is complimentary. It qualifies as a “must do.” Ten brief minutes watching San Marco shrink away and the wrought iron gates surrounding San Clemente’s lush gardens loom closer is both exhilarating and restorative. On arrival, that feeling is further enhanced by 360° degrees of views of the waterline of San Marco and La Giudecca across the lagoon.
The reason for my quick return visit to Venice was not merely to sample Acquerello’s classic Venetian menu creatively orchestrated by Executive Chef Giorgio Schifferegger, a native Italian who spent his formative haute cuisine years in France (under Jean Christophe Lebascle and Guy Savoy, no less) although that is a worthy excuse. For just 2 days in September, Schifferegger was to be joined by guest chef Matthias Schmidberger who earned a Michelin star for his Restaurant Cà d’Oro at another classic and grand sister property: the Grand Hotel des Bains Kempinski St. Moritz. The collaboration of these two culinary wizards for the 19th and 20th of September was one of several in a series the Kempinski brand hosts, the “Four Hands Special Menu.” Combining Schifferegger’s imaginative take on “local” specialties sourced from the absolute freshest ingredients available in Venice/the Veneto region with Schmidberger’s ten-year term of excellence at the des Bains recreating European classics was both a masterful strategy and alluring siren call which I was compelled to follow.
