An Impromptu Business Lunch in Venezia

Venezia was marvelous! We loved how this island city, which was once a powerful republic, mesmerized and educated us at the same time. With the many sights and historic corners to be explored, visitors like ourselves often find the days too short.

While on holiday, we try to keep our schedules open, which is hard for D because she is a planner, but sometimes things just come up. For instance, while we were waiting for our vaporetto from Murano to Burano, S received a phone call on his Italian number. It was his business associate, whom we shall Mr. A. He wanted to meet up for lunch in Venezia the following day (Saturday).  A couple of e-mails later, and we got ourselves lunch date for 1PM at the upscale Danieli Hotel in San Marco.  

So first thing that morning, we wandered around San Marco, which we had not done yet anyway, and then we met up with Mr. A at the lobby of the Hotel Danieli. The lobby was grand, and there was even a curio with Giuseppi Zanotti shoes from their fall lineup. That's high-end advertising right there.

Opulent hotel lobby decked out in Murano glass chandelier

While waiting for our first course to arrive, Mr. A wanted to talk to S about business for about 5minutes, so D proceeded to take photos of the view. It was a pretty awesome view of Venice, after all. This guy knows what's up.

Looking towards the San Marco side and the Santa Maria de la Saluti

Also an excellent view of San Giorgio Maggiore across the lagoon. It was a cloudy, gusty, and showery day.

The brief business talk provided a glimpse of how Italians do business especially those who run an old family company. Then lunch came, and it was Ah-maze-balls. Apparently, even lunch is a multi-course affair, and Mr. A asked if two courses was all right with us. We just looked at each other, trying to keep our cool, and agreed that two courses would be sufficient, when internally, we were gasping at the 69-euro price tag for a single entree. 

D took pictures of her food quickly as they arrived, but S decided to play it professionally, although he also really wanted to snap a pic of his dishes. So here's what D ended up with.

Risotto with champagne, fennel cream, prawns, and truffle ... Phenomenal!

Sea bass burger with sesame crusted prawn, miso and quinoa taboule, Jerusalem artichoke cream and busera fish sauce. 

S had the goat cheese ravioli with San Marzano tomatoes marinated with basil and rocket pesto for his primi and the sword fish in Mediterranean-herbed bread crumb panure, sugar snaps and wild fennel oil for his secondi. This was accompanied with the bottle of white wine Mr. A ordered. It was amusing to us that he made S do the initial taste for approval, since he drank more wine in this trip than this entire year. We gladly took the offer for the post-meal espresso because we probably would have fallen flat on our faces at the table.

Had we not been invited to this lunch, we most likely would have not even looked at this place since it was way out of our range for an any-day-meal. But if you find yourselves in Venice, and you want outdoor terrace seating in San Marco with prime views of the lagoon with excellent food and service, then consider saving up your nickels and dimes for this epicurean splurge.

Restaurant Terrazza Danieli | Panoramic restaurant in Venice 
Riva degli Schiavoni 4196 · 30122 · Venice  · Italy
Phone: +39 041 522 6480 · Fax: +39 041 520 0208
Email: restaurant.danieli@luxurycollection.com