Quadri

I’ve been mulling over my review the past month after dining at Quadri and finally decided to sit down to write it. I was so excited to eat here as Quadri is the only restaurant in all of Venice that has received a Michelin star (2012 I believe). But my husband and I were so terribly disappointed.
First and foremost, I would like to state that the service was absolutely wonderful. The wait staff was nice, professional and attentive. The issue we had, was with the food. Our Crudo appetizer was just okay. For the price, I really expected more than 3 tiny slices of fish. Our entrees were absolutely terrible. My husband ordered the pasta and I the cuttlefish risotto and apparently this restaurant has a whole new definition for al dente. I’ve eaten at several Michelin star restaurants so I’m familiar with large platters with small portions but for an entrée that is not a tasting item, I was really expecting more than 3 spoonfuls of risotto. My poor husband had like 2 forkfuls of pasta. Each «entrée» was 55 – 60 euros (approx $ 62-​$ 67) a PLATE to only receive enough to feed an infant child was really underwhelming for us.
To top off the portion vs price issue, our food was unbearable to eat. Both our entrees were undercooked. We understand what al dente means but this restaurant calls their cooking, the «new al dente.» My husband and I were so baffled by our entrees we had to ask our host, in the most polite way possible, why our food was undercooked. He explained that the pasta actually takes 20 minutes to cook and this is the «new al dente.» So we shut our mouths and ate hard pasta and hard rice. In retrospect, we should have sent the food back because it really was unbearable. I truly find it hard to believe that you can cook pasta for 20 minutes and it is still undercooked (with more than half of the pasta still being white when you bite into it) At the end, we paid about $ 350USD for the worst meal in all of our Italy trip. The restaurant was pretty much dead, I would say less than ¼ of the tables were filled. During our meal, there was a table of 3 that sat across from us that had ordered the same pasta my husband did. We watched all 3 of them try the new al dente pasta with confused looks on their face.
So perplexed… and so unsatisfied.

I believe this was the only restaurant in all of Venice with a Michelin star, and it’s well deserved. Venice is a relatively inexpensive city in which to dine, so if you wish to splurge for just one meal in Venice, do it at Quadri.
The service is incredible. We met a GM of a reputable hotel who was able to get us a reservation here at the last minute, and the restaurant accommodated us very well. The menu is pricier than most places, but I’d say it’s worth every euro. Each dish came prepared to explode in your mouth, and even the pasta options had very unique tastes. The wine list is fantastic, and there’s no doubt you’ll have a wonderful dining experience here no matter what your dietary preferences are.
The most memorable part for me, however, is walking out of the restaurant. You exit out into the Piazza San Marco. Here, Quadri has a five-​part band just outside under a beautifully lit gazebo. People are sitting all around it, relaxing with cocktails and coffee, enjoying the incredible sounds produced by the strings and tubes of the band. There’s nothing I can write that would adequately describe this experience, but a warm summer night in Piazza San Marco, with a band playing some awesome tunes and people clapping and dancing all around, I hope everyone gets the chance to enjoy this at some point.

First things first: Ristorante Quadri is NOT the same as the (Gran) Caffe Quadri — it’s owned by the same family (Alajmo), who recently (2011) renovated both; and the restaurant is located right above the café, right on Piazza San Marco. But there the similarities end. If you’re looking for one, don’t be fooled by the other.
My friend and I were visiting Venice for a week, and, upon hearing that Ristorante Quadri earned a Michelin star in 2012 and upon the recommendation of our hotel’s concierge, decided to splurge and try it out. I’m so glad we did — we had an *amazing* meal!
There are several tasting menus available, but since we both have dietary restrictions (her: allergic to shellfish; me: mostly vegetarian), we decided to go a la carte. We ordered 4 courses, and between two amuses-​bouches and a complimentary set of chocolates at the end, ended up with 7 anyhow. We had the sommelier do wine pairings for each of our dishes, and he excelled — everything was perfectly paired, from a champagne to go with my lightly fried artichokes and barba di frate with beet-​licorice sauce, to the best supertuscan either my friend or I had ever had to go with her squab (which came, somewhat hilariously, in the biggest bowl of a wine glass I’ve ever seen). Just incredible.
The courses themselves were delicately prepared — dentice sashimi («dentex» was the English translation, but I’ve never heard of this fish outside of Italy) with a pistachio-​something glaze; the perfect incarnation of a buratta «lasagnetta»; the amazing fried thing above, the description of which sounded potentially heavy but was instead light and perfect and had me licking the bowl of the dipping sauce.
Two things made this restaurant especially wonderful: One was their attention to dietary restrictions and preferences. There was a vegetarian option in *every* section of the menu, so I didn’t even have to ask for special accommodation on that front; and they were wonderful and very cautious about my friend’s shellfish allergy. And the second was that the dishes weren’t precious — no foam of this, powder of that, or any of your flashy molecular gastronomy techniques — just the perfect incarnation of everything they served. The portions were also very reasonably sized — each on the small side, but paced so you could have 6 or 7 courses and leave not feeling bloated.
I’m SO happy we found this place. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a splurge in Venice! Worth every Euro-​cent (and there were many of them).

Magical Venezia Tour
Si vous avez une soirée à réserver, c’est au Quadri, en dégustant une sublime Bellini et en écoutant l’orchestre, avec le magnifique violoniste au sourire triste et ravageur, Sokol Prekalori. Un souvenir inoubliable, du vrai Venise !

Florian bis
C’est une réplique du café Florian, oui c’est beau mais les prix sont horriblement chers, quand l’orchestre joue, il y a une ambiance particulière, presque magique mais… les prix à ce moment là augmentent…

Vue imprenable sur la place San Marco
En plein carnaval, quoi de mieux que d’apprécier un cappucino et un cioccolata (chocolat fondu avec un pot de lait chaud) sur la terrasse au milieu de superbes costumes et d’une activité débordante? Le café étant bondé, nous avons dû nous rabattre sur la terrasse. Service rapide et de qualité. Un peu frisquet, mais l’ambiance fait la différence. Nous avons pu en effet profiter du spectable donné en l’honneur de l’ouverture du carnaval. Il né faut pas regarder à la dépense, les prix sont à la hauteur de la place San Marco.

Un régal
Situé presque en face du Florian, il fait partie des trois cafés se partageant la place Saint Marc. Vraiment génial, un conseil prenez un Bellini pêche et profitez de la musique, né pensez plus à rien. Le prix est équivalent à celui du Florian.