CHIARA PAVAN: FLAVOURS AND TREASURES FROM THE VENETIAN LAGOON

Situated in the evocative setting of the old cellar room, or Cantinone, on a lush estate surrounded by gardens and rows of vines and vegetable patches, Venissa represents a culinary experience in two parts: one being the islands of Native Venice and their ingredients, including herbs and vegetables from the estate’s own vegetable gardens, and the other being fish from the lagoon and the upper Adriatic. Here, you won’t find common species of fish, which are becoming scarcer in our seas, nor will you find chocolate or exotic delicacies. Rather than using lemon for acidity, the chef uses the unripe grapes picked to thin the vineyards.

This decidedly ambitious and often complex project has been brought to life by Chiara Pavan and her partner, Chef Francesco Brutto. Cooking with products from their own “microcosm” only, and following increasingly uncertain seasonality, is no easy feat. However, presenting their creations through a seven- to ten-course tasting menu, Pavan and Brutto demonstrate how sourcing from local fauna and flora can transform problems into opportunities. One such example is the chef’s creative use of Samphire, a halophytic plant with interesting nutritional properties that grows abundantly in the lagoons of northeast Italy, its growth driven by rising salt levels in the soil caused by droughts.

Many of the dishes at Venissa involve a considerable reduction in animal protein, especially meat, which is altogether eliminated. Among the protein alternatives to meat, Chiara Pavan has also introduced Rapana venosa, a large shellfish originating from the oceans near Japan. This invasive species has been devouring mussels and oysters on the seabed of the upper Adriatic for several decades, which inspired the chef to use it in her cooking, alongside blue crab.

According to Chef Pavan, it is important to promote a diet rich in vegetables, legumes, and grains, and to source supplies from growers and producers who share values of environmental and ecosystem care. This ethos comes together into a meticulous optimisation of resources through the use of products with a low carbon footprint that do not require transportation to reach the restaurant.

At Venissa, the culinary experience continues right through to the coffee after the meal, which is one of Pavan’s great passions. The coffee menu features two exceptional blends from the 1895 Specialty Coffee selection by Lavazza Coffee Designers, brewed using various slow coffee preparation methods. Both blends are single-origins from Colombia: Calima, whose name refers to a series of pre-Colombian cultures from the Cauca Valley, the region where it is produced, is characterised by an aroma of sweet fruits with notes of lychee and papaya; and Mora Azul is the product of sustainable production and the careful roasting of the selected coffee beans, which brings a unique complexity to the coffee. The result is an aroma of blueberry sweets with notes of rose petals and jasmine.

The creativity of Venissa meets lagoon cuisine to be shared in the chef’s Osteria Contemporanea, set amidst the lush green gardens of the Venissa estate with views over the vineyard. Here, you can taste dishes with a contemporary spirit that take their inspiration from the lagoon, from an assortment of seasonal “cicchetti”, which are local snacks, containing the fish of the day to a selection of starters from land and sea. At the end of your culinary experience exploring the treasures of the Venetian lagoon, you can savour an 1895 Specialty Coffee by Lavazza Coffee Designers, brewed as espresso or with a Chemex. This is Noble Volcano, a Brazilian blend with an enveloping profile, made from hand-harvested Arabica beans of the Arara and Catucai varieties. Its intense flavour features dried fruit aromas with notes of macadamia, chocolate, and caramel.