VENICE – VENETO – ITALY
Chiara
Pavan*
In Mazzorbo, a small island near Venice, Chiara Pavan serves up a cuisine steeped in the culinary heritage of the Veneto region. Beyond the kitchen, she passionately champions the preservation of the Venetian lagoon and advocates for hyper-local products. With 1 Michelin Star and 1 Green Star, she is celebrated as an ethical chef leading the charge towards sustainable gastronomy.
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Two exclusive escapes created in collaboration with Chef Chiara Pavan
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Tasting dinner in Venissa, her Michelin-starred restaurant
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Exclusive experience with the Chef and Dorona di Venezia wine tasting
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Meet the Venetian artisans who perpetuate the age-old traditions
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Venetian cooking class
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Taste the best wine and cheeses of the Prosecco region
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Spend the night on the islands of Burano or Mazzorbo for an authentic experience
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Luxury or Charm Hotels
PRIVATE ESCAPES
These private journeys in Veneto and Venice are flexible and can be tailored to your preferred date and customized to suit your desires. Feel free to reach out.
From €3,030 per person*
on a double room basis
Departure from Venice
From €6,470 per person*
on a double room basis
Departure from Venice
*Prices may vary when booking depending on availability
Chiara Pavan is a peculiar element in the world of haute cuisine. Firstly, because she is a female Chef and has settled in Venice, but also because she is a philosophy and sociology scholar who is proud to claim her cooking is political and radical. She expresses, in her food, her strong opinions about the preservation of the Venice laguna.
Chiara Pavan tiptoed her way into the world of gastronomy. While studying philosophy in Pisa, she began working in restaurants to fund her education, and soon became captivated by the culinary world.
After receiving a solid culinary education at the renowned Italian cooking school Alma, and training alongside Valeria Piccini, the chef of the two-star restaurant Da Caino, Chiara found herself at Undicesimo Vineria in Treviso. It was here that she crossed paths with Chef Francesco Brutto, who soon became both her life's companion and cooking companion.
The Venissa journey began in 2016, reinforcing her firm beliefs on how gastronomy needs to evolve.
A philosopher in
the kitchen
For three years, she helmed the kitchen brigade at the gastronomic restaurant of this micro-winery located on the island of Mazzorbo, just a stone's throw from Venice.
Chiara immediately fell for the island and, more importantly, for the Venetian lagoon - a region she believes is the most vulnerable to climate change in the world.
Three years later, Francesco Brutto joined her, and together they completely overhauled Venissa's menu, rooting it firmly in this uniquely fragile environment. Featuring creations such as soft-shell crab, ravioli with absinthe butter, pine nuts, and bitter herbs, the two chefs set out to shake up traditional Venetian cuisine.
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Their dedication went far beyond crafting menus together; it sparked a culinary revolution akin to Chef Mauro Colagreco's radical approach. "I do not use vacuum-sealed lids, nothing with plastic film, no plastic, never. I’m always shocked at the quantity of plastic being used in the world of gastronomy," says Chiara Pavan, reflecting her commitment to sustainable practices in gastronomy.
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The unexpected happened in 2018 when Chiara Pavan was named Best Italian Chef, earning a Michelin star and a Green Star for her bold, sustainable culinary creations that highlight local fish, veggies, and herbs.
"Working with the local products of our land and lagoon and drawing inspiration from the rich gastronomic history of the Veneto region is at the heart of my culinary passion."
Venissa's owner, Gianluca Bisol, a famous Prosecco producer in Veneto, wholeheartedly embraces this environmental awareness. Together with his son, they have revived an indigenous grape variety on the estate known as Dorona di Venezia.
These wine enthusiasts have rescued 88 vines from the unique climatic challenges of the lagoon, including the high-water level (acqua alta) and salinity of the water. Every year they produce 3,500 bottles of this exquisite nectar, which delights visitors to Mazzorbo with its rare and refined flavors.
Serenely, Chiara Pavan strives for haute cuisine to become more eco-friendly and inclusive of female Chefs: "Us, women, have to find our own space, in one imagined already by male Chefs… a space built for and by men only."
“My cuisine is a blend of my environmental commitment and my love for the laguna.”
On a tranquil island adorned with fishermen's houses painted in hues of yellow, red, turquoise, and green, a sprawling two-acre fence encloses grapevines and over sixty varieties of vegetables.
Meeting
Chiara
by Juliana Angotti, founder of Hiddenist
Dining here, under the shade of an age-old steeple, exudes a mystical allure. Sheltered from the hustle and bustle of civilization, only forty minutes away the crowds trampling and marring La Serenissima, one can truly feel the essence of the lagoon. With a touch of imagination, it's easy to envision stepping back centuries into the past. It's an enchanting journey through time.
This morning, Chiara strolls through her vegetables patch with a smile on her face. She passionately describes the collaboration with retired market gardeners who lovingly tend to her gardens, nurturing purple Sant'Erasmo artichokes, celery, lettuce, cabbage, spinach...
She gathers mugwort, wild arugula, samphire, and other lagoon algae, each adding a unique flavor to her dishes.
"Visiting Mazzorbo island, and meeting Chef Chiara Pavan, you can sense deep in your bones the silence, peace and salty air of the Venice lagoon. You also meet her kitchen brigade, truly committed to protecting the fragile and mistreated ecosystem of the region."
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Chiara shares with me her deep connection to the Laguna, a resilient landscape constantly evolving amidst change. It's her source of inspiration, fueling her creativity boundlessly. The chef embraces every idea and experiment, such as her bold blue crab flan infused with delicate notes of wisteria and thyme. She explains it's crafted from an invasive species hitchhiking on cruise ship hulls from the Adriatic. "It's meant to be enjoyed. We need to embrace consumable species without natural predators; to me, it represents the future of cuisine."
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Later, at Venissa, the restaurant where the Michelin-starred Chef’s dedication shines brightly, it’s a carousel of plates. Her cooking style is both artistic and robust, genuinely sublime and distinguished by its uniqueness. It leaves you speechless!
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In the evening, while the city of Burano slumbers, you wander its tranquil streets and are moved to tears by the fragility of planet Earth. And of Venice, a city we yearn to remain eternal.