Suggestion for dinner for a party of 8 in Venice??
 

Looking for suggestions for a special restaurant to have dinner when we all meet in Venice!

Thanks for the help,

Natasha

Alle Testiere or Corte Sconta would be my choices. Alle Testiere has better food but Corte Sconta is fun for its incredible seafood courses.

One of my favorites is Al Covo. I go every time I'm in Venice. It's not far off the Grand Canal as you walk past the big hotels on the Canal. The food is wonderful and fresh - the menu changes every day depending on what's fresh. It's owned by a couple, he's italian (the chef) and she's from Texas (maitre'd) - so there is no language issue if you do't speak Italian. It's not inexpensive - but I've been there for birthdays, New Year's Eve, and numerous dinners with friends and alone and have loved it every time.

Antico Martini.

Best wishes,

Rex

Rex---I'm happy to see you mention Antico Martini. We had a wonderful dinner there. Signor Baldi answered my e-mail himself when I requested a reservation, and greeted us at the door to wish us a "happy anniversary" when we arrived.

I wonder if it has changed now that La Fenice has re-opened. Have you been there recently?

I avoid the "famous" restaurants in the center. They are all heavily overpriced, and mostly not good. A very special place, if you are looking for a rather elegant setting, is the Locanda Cipriani, http://www.locandacipriani.com/, on Torcello island (open for dinner on Saturdays only, otherwise exclusively for lunch), with a one hour trip on the public water bus involved (I mean one hour for each direction), crossing the most beautiful part of the laguna. The food is good value, if you don't expect anything really great, but the place is really special: in the vicinity of Torcello's two magnificent Romanic churches, and above all, Torcello (once Venice's mightiest rival) is now an island with no more than 20 or 30 inhabitants - unforgettable.
If you want to stay in the historic center, I'd rather opt for one of the more basic, more rustic choices, where the food is usually much better than in the well-known places. The best cuisine of Venice IMO is to be found at the Osteria alla Botte, http://www.osteriaallabotte.it. And this place is real fun, too! Not quite elegant, but totally unspoiled (and off season, full of Venetians enjoying the gorgeous food there). A happy medium would be Vini da Gigio, http://www.vinidagigio.com/, where food is excellent, too, and the setting is tending towards elegance.