Amidst the streets of Venice: identity and contemporary style at Al Violino d’oro
The five-star hotel in the heart of the city is one of the hotels in the EM Collection
There are two gondoliers wearing red-and-white striped shirts standing in front of the bar counter at the Violino d’Oro. At 11 o’clock in the morning, it’s time for the first spritz, and even they – whose mooring is on the canal next to the hotel – have learnt that in a five-star hotel it’s bound to be good and that the cicchetto will be a real treat.
Food and drink have the power to forge an immediate connection with a place, to strengthen that bond and to pass it on to those arriving from elsewhere. What we remember from a stay are the scents, the sumptuous textures, the lighting, the atmosphere and the kindness. And the food – which, when it is good, is an indelible souvenir. Sara Maestrelli, ambassador for Collezione EM, knows this only too well. At thirty years of age, with her international, Renaissance-inspired air, she has brought a breath of fresh air and the taste of a new generation of travellers to the family’s five hotels: the Grand Hotel Minerva and the Brunelleschi in Florence, Villa Roma Imperiale and Pensione America in Forte dei Marmi, and the Violino d’Oro in Venice.
A cuisine that reflects the local area
When it comes to the cuisine and ingredients (the Maestrelli family business began with her grandfather Egiziano, who sold fruit and vegetables), Sara is extremely meticulous: first and foremost, they must be locally sourced, or at the very least Italian, just like almost every detail in the family’s hotels. “Authenticity is what makes people feel good,” she says. The restaurant Il Piccolo is run by chef Ros Kuda and pastry chef Antonio Lusso, whose styles complement one another and add influences from Eastern Europe and Sardinia to the classic Venetian dishes. After all, the cuisine of Venice – a city of trade and water – has always been shaped by a myriad of influences that it has gradually made its own, and continues to be so in its original dishes. From vegan cicchetti with artichokes and cashew-flavoured cheeses to the tasting menu in the floral stucco room, it is a succession of original flavours and haiku-style titles such as ‘The Paduan hen strikes up a conversation’ and “The turbot goes to the film festival”, which whet both the appetite and curiosity.
The union of three 17th-century buildings
The Violino d’Oro, a five-star hotel created by combining three 17th-century buildings, opened in the autumn of 2023 on Calle Larga XXII Marzo, the ultra-chic shopping street. With thirty-two rooms and interiors that transport you back in time, it feels like a historic place – as if it had always been there – yet remains thoroughly contemporary. There are books, magazines, vases, ornaments, antiques and design pieces, Rubelli brocades, Venini glassware and Murano chandeliers – just like in a grand, unmistakably Venetian home. Thanks to three women: Sara, the perfectionist artistic director; Piera Benelli Tempesti, the architect behind all the EM hotels; and Annabella Cariello, general manager from day one, who is able to convey the message to guests, day after day: here, the city is the undisputed star – the city of yesterday, today and even tomorrow.
