Palazzo Franchetti
Every so often one contemplates an unused space in Venice – a courtyard, a garden, a building – fantasising about how it might be turned into a superb bar or restaurant. Years roll by and nothing happens – until one day the guardian planets of the city spin harmoniously into alignment and a splendid new project is born. This is the case with Moro, a new bar-restaurant in the courtyard of the Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti in Campo Santo Stefano near the Accademia Bridge. Moro opened only recently and I was therefore unable to include it in my recent book, Drink & Think Venice. But it certainly merits an honourable place among my favourite Venetian venues. It is hard to think of more central, pleasing and elegant location. It is an inspired and welcome project, especially as years ago, pre-Covid, the space was operated by the well-known local caterers Rosa Salva: sadly, as with so many enterprises, it never reopened after the pandemic. Now the space has been triumphantly reborn, thanks to a local Chinese entrepreneur. It has a beautiful new interior designed by Rubelli and a formidable team headed by local restaurateur Fulvio Zanella, a throughly charming man who offers a warm welcome and oversees the unimpeachable and prompt level of service here.
Moro occupies a spacious high-ceilinged chamber on the ground floor of the Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti. This palace is now a high-profile Biennale exhibition centre operated by the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arte, though over a century ago it was the home of Baron Raimondo Franchetti and his wife Sarah Louise de Rothschild – so there are pleasings echoes of a glamorous past (Baron Franchetti’s armorial can be seen on the handsome wellhead near the exhibition entrance to the palace itself). There are some 20 tables outside in a tree-shaded courtyard garden. The garden has two entrances – one near the well-established florist round the corner from the Accademia Bridge and another at the far end of the courtyard, on Campo Santo Stefano. Whichever of the two you choose, there is a pleasing sense of drama and occasion as you enter. The hectic footfall around the public square and the bridge instantly gives way to an entirely improbable and resolutely enchanting garden haven. I believe most seasoned Venetophiles would agree that ample garden spaces like this, where one can actually relax and enjoy a drink, are at something of a premium in Venice. Moro is a perfect solution and an ideal place to enjoy a Spritz in the early afternoon or evening. I took careful stock of the visitors and noticed several earnest cultural tourists, equipped with the obligatory clutch of Biennale catalogues and guides, cheerfully abandoning themselves and their itineraries in favour of the dolce far niente of Spritz, or afternoon tea and cake, or to a more substantial lunch or supper. Moro has a superb menu, thanks to Michelin-starred chef Davide Bisetto and pastry chef Tim Ricci. It is open from breakfast to late-evening. To answer what is undoubtedly a question uppermost in the reader’s mind, in my view the prices are perfectly pitched – sufficiently moderate by Venetian standards to gather a respectable crowd of discerning and romantically-inclined revellers, but high enough to discourage the rowdier low-budget tripper – a good thing, since the combination of booze and gardens is always potentially hazardous.
Here (see pics below) below are extracts from the excellent drinks and cocktails menu curated by bar manager Claudio Trevisan. In keeping with the philosophy I outline in Drink & Think Venice, I’d urge people to consider the perennial question of value versus price. This is not an expensive list. The benchmark to keep in mind, if one is uncertain, is that a gin and tonic at Bristol Airport is 18.50 GBP. A 15 or 20 euro drink in an excellent place like Moro (e.g. the Gin Basil Smash) is worth every cent of the tariff and more – whereas in other less immaculately curated watering-holes that may well not be the case. I very much favour the cocktail ‘My Cup of Tea’, lapsang souchong dosed with mint and Hendrix gin, a robust answer to one’s primmer companions who might prefer to stick to conventional Earl Grey and viennoiserie at teatime. I also very much enjoyed the Italicus Spritz, a variant I have never come across before, made with bergamot liqueur and prosecco. Rosolio di Bergamotto, the liqueur used, is a comparatively new thing, having been launched in 2016 by the Calabrian mixologist, Giuseppe Gallo. It translates very well to Venice and it was an inspired idea to use it for Spritz. The Negroni at Moro is notable too – this is a difficult drink to get right and those keen on it, as I am, might agree that the result varies enormously depending on the red vermouth and gin used. Here they use Vermouth Intrigo Rosso, from the delightfully-named range, Spiriti Occulti, made by Veneto distillers Ferrowine. The gin is Gin Sospiri, made with salicornia (glasswort) from Sant’Erasmo, Venice’s own vegetable garden island. It’s a good mix – a definite Venetian spin on the serviceable but often deadeningly generic Negronis one might find elsewhere.
