Diecicento Enotaca I Vini (in Turin, Italy) was advised to us by Fabrizio Tesse from la Pista ristaurante. We were lucky to meet him in his coffee shop called Caffe Mascaraldi on a Sunday morning and asked whether he would recommend a place nearby to have a good lunch. He told us about Diecicento Enotaca, an ideal spot with an incredible wine cellar. 

Indeed, it is a really good restaurant with an excellent wine list. Fabio Digilio offers à la carte Aperitivo and Tapas, but also a choice of four Primi Piatti, 11 Secondi Piatti and 11 desserts. 

Our dishes were all deliciously prepared and cooked, from our crispy corn Tacos with tuna marinated in Yuzu sauce with chipotle and coriander to our Plin della tradizione (veal, beef, sausage, cabbage with its brown stock and Gran Kinara Parmesan) and finally the Cannolo with sheep milk ricotta, candied orange and chopped pistachios, and apple tart Tatin style with ice cream by Alberto Marchetti or whipped cream. 

The wine list is amazing, we ordered a wonderful Nebbiolo from Figli Luigi Oddero 2017 domain in Langhe.  

The service in English and Italian is very nice and professional. 

Diecicento Enotaca I Vini is a great spot to lunch on Sunday with family and friends but it’s also worth going back for dinner in order to taste other dishes and drink more of the amazing wines from their cellar.

Diecicento Enoteca I ViniVia

Carlo Alberto, 24 Bis

10123 Torino TO, Italiy

Condividere restaurant in Torino is a pearl and probably one the best restaurants in the city and most probably in Italy. 

The restaurant is a child project of the legendary Catalan chef Ferran Adria and legendary Italian restaurateur Bob Noto, both sponsored by the Lavazza family. 

The restaurant is located in the Lavazza headquarters and was designed by Dante Ferretti, the set designer of Fellini and Martin Scorsese’s films. Once the customers put their feet inside the restaurant, they are immediately amazed by the setting and the atmosphere, luminous, spacious, and artfully decorated. After the entrance, we can see the large and open kitchen with at least ten cooks and the chef preparing the incredible food for the guests. 

Speaking of, Condividere offers three menus: I Classici (13 dishes), Festival (15 dishes) and Gran Festival (17 dishes). For our dinner, we opted for the Gran Festival and it was exactly what we expected: a wonderful festival for our eyes, mouths and bellies. Each dish was perfectly prepared, presented and cooked by the head chef Frederico Zanasi. 

In Italian, condividere means to share. This place is a perfect combination of Spanish tapas and Italian cuisine and flavor. 

The wine list has a large and nice offer, especially Italian wines, but the wine pairing proposals do not match the high level of the cuisine. 

The service is young, professional, and efficient as it should be in a Michelin-star restaurant. 

Condividere is one of our best experiences this year, it has great food, a superb wine list, brilliant setting, nice service and even a cool playlist -- even if one of our friends would have wished for a more jazzy vibe.

Condividere

Via Bologna, 20,

10152 Torino TO, Italy

Téléphone : +39 011 089 7651

www.condividere.com 

J.W. Marriott in Venice is located on the island Delle Rose and it is a five stars hotel. 

An island resort located 20 minutes by complimentary shuttle boat from Saint Mark’s Square, the JW Marriott is far from the crowds of Venice. Some visitors enjoy the tranquility and the daily boat ride to visit the city’s main attractions; other guests, however, being so distant from the action may create a sense of missing out. 

Here is our review for J.W. Marriott: 

The positive points: 

- Beautiful property, isolated on the island of Della Rosa 

- Rooftop swimming pool with a stunning view of Venice 

- Heated family pool next to a manicured garden 

- Very clean room 

- Good buffet breakfast 

- Good bedding 

- Nice gym room, jogging tracks, and bikes 

- Quite correct multisport field (badminton, basketball, football, and archery)   

The negative points: 

- A paying kid’s club (30 Euros for entrance fees plus another 15 Euros to play with a

   Lego boxes

- The concierge never informed us that on Sunday, the complimentary shuttle boat starts at  

   9H00 am and not before. If guests must leave early, they need to book in advance the water taxi 

   which cost 150 euros from the hotel to the Marco Polo’s airport. 

Overall, we had a pleasant three days stay at J.W. Marriott, even though, we found the price of entrance for the kid’s club was a ridiculous and scandalous practice from the Marriott group. 

J.W. Marriott Venice

Isola delle Rose 

Venice, 30133 

Italy 

Telephone : +39 041-852-1300

www.jwvenice.com

Wistèria is a genus of a flowering plant from Asia and was introduced in Europe in nineteen centuries. 

Wistèria is also a Michelin starred restaurant in Venice where the chef Vallerio Dallamano is demonstrating his skills since January 2022. 

We came to Wistèria to celebrate a birthday with friends from Torino on May 28, 2022. 

We were nicely welcome by Max, one of the owners of Wistèria and seated at a round table in a corner surrounded by beautiful bottles of wines and Champagnes. 

Our host, Daniele De Marinis tried to speak to us in French even though our friends speak fluently Italian and asked us how many dishes we wish to have with their Serendipity menu. We could choose five or eight courses for our dinner. 

We did choose five dishes and as usual, there were a series of amuse-bouche which were originals and good. Chef Vallerio loves to combine sweet and sour in all his dishes. We could see that his cooking is influenced Asian flavors and techniques. Wisteria offers dishes “that are inspired by Venetian tradition and do not hesitate to use a few exotic ingredients like coriander or ginger to enhance the dishes. One dish stands out which was not in the menu, but it was served as complementary offer to our table was the spaghetti with natural tomato sauce. It was fabulous in its simplicity and extraordinary and its taste.

The wine list as expected was superb with a great choice by glass. Our sommelier advised us Pierre Trichet’s Champagne; Blanc de Noir Grand Cru called « La Puissance » which was perfect for our dinner.  

The service was professional, friendly, warm, and multilingual as a one-star Michelin restaurant should be. 

Wistèria is a nice place in Venice to celebrate in style an event or a reunion with friends.

Wisteria

San Polo 2908

30125 Venezia VE, Italy

Telephone : +39 041 524 3373

www.wisteria-restaurant.com

Estro Vino and Cucina is one the best places to eat in Venice. The restaurant created by the two brothers, Alberto, and Dario Spezzamonte. 

The two brothers have created a nice spot in Venice where tourists and locals can have great food and excellent wines for a reasonable price. Their cuisine is based on very simple components: the seasonality and quality of the products, respect for tradition and a contemporary interpretation of it. It sounds simple but their cooking is more than that, it is elaborate and extremely well executed. 

We had a very affordable menu of day (Menu Estro) which composed of one starter, one “primo platto” to choose from menu and one dessert for 38 Euros. 

Our “primero platto” was a raw seafood platter which came very fresh and delicious our second dish was the linguine with seafood called pasta cassopipa 

The wine cellar houses more than 700 bottles of wine from all over the world. The love for wine and the careful production representing many of the best Italian wine producers. There was also a selection of 20 different wines by glass every day. 

The service was exemplary, helpful, kind, professional and trilingual (Italian, English and French). 

Estro Vino & Cucina is no doubt, one of the best food & wines restaurants in Venice.

Estro Vino e Cucina: 

Dorsoduro 3778 Crosera, Calle S. Pantalon

30123 Venezia VE, Italia

Telephone : +39 041 476 4914 

www.estrovenezia.com