No less alluring is the intimate library bar, tucked away just off the third-floor lobby. Its cocooning elegance is offset by a ceiling fresco entitled Qui i ricci di mare sono stelle (which roughly translates to âHere sea urchins are starsâ) by artist Simon Buret. The fresco offers a surrealist take on the celestial, playing off the Murano glass sea creatures and metal octopi that decorate each room. As befits a library bar, the walls are lined with over 4,000 books, almost half of which are about art, sourced by independent book dealer Anatole Desachy. If youâre really there to read, each evening the bar features a different subtly flavored waterâbut the cocktails are unmissable, as inventive as they are delicious.
Photo: Guillaume de Laubier
Although Venice isnât traditionally thought of as the culinary capital of Italy, the food at the Nolinski is worth making a trip for. Overseen by Philip Chronopoulos, the chef at two-Michelin star restaurant Palais Royal in Paris, the fare at the Nolinski offers a vibrant, modern spin on Italian cuisine. Il Caffé, the ground-floor restaurant is open for all-day dining in its plant-filled courtyard and serene indoor space, and serves Venetian food with a pan-Mediterranean twist. Start with cicchettiâVeniceâs version of tapasâand progress through particularly delicious yellowtail carpaccio and gnocchi cacio e pepe.Â