Eat:
IL NUOVO GALEON
When Robert Storr, now dean of the Yale School of Art, was the Biennale director, in 2007, he ate lunch at this nautically themed fish restaurant nearly every day. "It’s expensive, but a patron bought me a tab there," says Storr. "They have a great octopus in broth."
Via Garibaldi 1308
39-041/250-4656
DA FIORE
Known as the best restaurant in town, this tony spot lives up to that reputation daily. Its mission is to serve local ingredients in traditional preparations — no fusion fireworks here. "The food is always delicious, and they use a very delicate batter on the fritto misto," says Lovett. The wine list is vast and varied.
Calle del Scaleter 2202
39-041/721-308
dafiore.net
HARRY’S DOLCI
The legendary Harry’s Bar is a San Marco icon for anyone with deep pockets, but Hue-Williams prefers its sister restaurant, also run by the Cipriani family. Located on Giudecca, this classically Continental place is less pricey and more charming. "It’s an extension of the Harry’s menu and a little less fussy," Hue-Williams says, adding, "I love eating while overlooking the water."
Giudecca 773
39-041/522-4844
hotelcipriani.com
CORTE SCONTA
This restaurant prides itself on wines with low markups and on savory seafood dishes like black spaghetti with asparagus tips. The New York dealer James Cohan often throws gallery parties here during the Biennale: "In a city where people can be tough on tourists, they’re very hospitable, and it’s close to the Arsenale."
Calle del Pestrin 3886
39-041/522-7024
TAVERNA SAN TROVASO
Located near the Accademia museum, this friendly two-story taverna has a tiled ceiling and a dining room swaddled in worn woods. Storr recommends the sautéed spinach and the mushroom pizza.
Fondamenta Priuli 1016
39-041/520-3703
tavernasantrovaso.it
See:
IN-FINITUM
The Vervoordt Foundation, which began a series of exhibitions at the last Biennale, holds the final show from June 6 to November 15. In 2007 the art world thrilled to the eclectic high-low combinations that the trendsetting dealer and designer Axel Vervoordt assembled in the famed Palazzo Fortuny, formerly home to the fashion textile designer. This round even more space is available, since the foundation has restored additional rooms, including an old attic. "This show is about time itself," says Vervoordt. "It’s about things that are unfinished and infinity." In that spirit, he’s mixing sketches of an incomplete Pietà by Michelangelo with an Anish Kapoor sculpture called The Void. Other artists represented include Adam Fuss, Joan Miró and Gerhard Richter.
San Marco 3958
39-041/520-0995
GALLERIE DELL’ACCADEMIA
Even the most jaded museumgoer will be impressed by this treasure trove, which contains five centuries of Venetian painting. "They’re now showing Titian’s Presentation of the Virgin Mary at the Temple in the exact same place where it was originally installed," says the Berlin dealer Gerd Harry Lybke.
Dorsoduro
105039-041/522-2247
PUNTA DELLA DOGANA
François Pinault is still marching his contemporary-art crusade across Venice. In 2006, he took over the Palazzo Grassi, and on the opening night of the Biennale, he unveils his newest conquest: a Tadao Ando-renovated 17th-century customs house. The Dogana’s debut show, "Mapping the Studio: Works from the Pinault Collection," is so big that some of is 300 artworks will spill over into the Palazzo Grassi.
Dorsoduro 1
39-041/523-1680
CA’ REZZONICO
Visiting this exceptionally designed museum, located in a Baroque palace that took more than a century to create, is like taking a trip to 18th-century Venice. Among its many must-sees are the Tiepolo frescoes of classical figures that adorn the Nuptial Allegory Room. And take a peek into the historically accurate potion-and-powder-filled pharmacy that puts Damien Hirst’s ruminations on the theme to shame.
Dorsoduro 3136
39-041/241-0100
PEGGY GUGGENHEIM COLLECTION
"You can’t miss the Guggenheim," says Lovett. "It’s a unique place." In 1949 the late patroness took over the canal-side Palazzo Venier dei Leoni as her home, filling it with works by such modern masters as de Chirico, Giacometti, Kandinsky and Picasso. The intimate setting still emits a whiff of the vie de bohème that she once cultivated behind its doors.
Dorsoduro 704
39-041/240-5411
guggenheim-venice.it/inglese
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