WE’RE TAKING ONLINE A HOSTARIA OF THE 1950s.

It’s was the first restaurant which opened immediately after WW2, on 28 April 1945.

La Hostaria and its forgotten garden: Embark on a flavorful culinary adventure and enjoy venetian hospitality of the 1960S.

Dear readers, we are excited to share with you the story of the first restaurant opened in Venice after the end of World War 2.

It all began on 28 April 1945, when grandfather opened a tiny hostaria located under a red-painted sotoportego, just a short five-minute stroll from Piazza San Marco. The term hostaria, derived from Latin and synonymous with osteria, conveys the essence of a family eatery, serving comforting meals crafted from cherished family recipes.

This hostaria was the realization of a dream held by grandmother who envisioned a communal space in Venice, where locals could meet following the turmoil of the war years.

Amidst debates about the future of Venice - a topic resonant in our times - she skillfully prepared humble yet nourishing dishes, using fresh vegetables, handcrafted pasta, and seasonal fruit and fish.

Her meals were often enhanced by neighbors who would bring prized ingredients such as wild mushrooms and fragrant herbs from the Dolomites, or sweet anguria (watermelon) from the bountiful fields south of Chioggia. And, not to be forgotten, the beloved bigoli made a regular appearance..

That red-painted sotoportego still stands tall, a tangible link to the past, just like the hostaria, maintaining its original name that evokes memories of grandfather, its founder.

During the lively decades of the 1950s and 1960s, grandmother's culinary repertoire flourished with the addition of recipes from the neighboring nuns living in the historical guesthouse of the San Zaccaria monastery. Commencing with humble herb-infused dishes, she gradually infused her menu with intricate spice blends from the monastery's recipe books.

In 1968, our grandparents embarked on a new chapter as the nuns made the difficult decision to leave their guesthouse in the aftermath of the ruinous 1966 flood that had ravaged their terraced garden: Entrusted by the nuns to restore their garden, grandmother opened a tiny Casa hotel, complete with another hostaria and an aromatic speziaria where she was using herbs from the garden.

While grandmother's never wrote down her recipes, I collected her recipes and menus over time. Together, we delved into the monastery's archives, unearthing tales of vineyards, fishing grounds, salt pans, and kitchen gardens once tended by the monastery's nuns.

Join us on this digital voyage uncovering the story of the hostaria and its garden!

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Inspired by a secret garden: Why do we think that Venetian cuisine is helpful in our times?

Se la storia della città è ben documentata, il suo patrimonio culinario è meno conosciuto. Il nuovo progetto di La Venessiana, “Roses and Spices: The Fragrant World of Venice”, condivide le ricette storiche per cibo, rimedi naturali e profumeria della Repubblica di Venezia, distillate da libri dimenticati presso l'Archivio di Stato e altre biblioteche pubbliche e private.

In Venice, you can discover and appreciate the old buildings and sounds around every corner. You learn how to live like the ancients but still benefit from modern advantages, like feeling safe. I've always thought of the Lagoon as a dreamy, separate world with ancient knowledge and its own unique time and seasons.