Club del Doge dell'Hotel Gritti Palace

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Palazzo, a Canal, a Kitchen with Deep Roots

Club del Doge Restaurant occupies a singular address: the piano nobile of The Gritti Palace, a 15th-century noble palazzo that has operated as a luxury hotel since 1895. Set directly over the Grand Canal at Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, the restaurant carries the weight of Venetian history without being burdened by it. Gambero Rosso's recognition with 2 Forks is a measure of how consistently it delivers — from a leisurely breakfast to a full fine dining dinner service.

Executive Chef Alberto Fol

Originally from Treviso, Alberto Fol has the Dolomites in his blood and Venice in his professional biography. He first worked at The Gritti Palace in the early 2000s, then built his reputation across a series of landmark Venetian addresses — Executive Chef at Hotel des Bains on the Lido, a decade leading a brigade of 40 at the Europa & Regina, and then the helm of Hotel Danieli's Terrazza restaurant from 2018. In September 2023, he returned to The Gritti Palace to lead its entire gastronomic offer.

His philosophy is grounded and precise: "My culinary research takes its first ideas from the Lagoon, with a zero kilometre approach to ingredients and seasonality. It's a tribute to the territory through its mix of past and present." He works with the Veneto's rich ecosystem — lagoon seafood, garden vegetables from Mazzorbetto, high-altitude herbs — and brings them into dialogue with technique rather than spectacle.

What's on the Plate

The tasting menu, In Essence – Alberto Fol, runs to seven courses at €205 per person and reads as a confident statement of Venetian fine dining. The signature Risotto "Hemingway-Style" — with raw and cooked scampi, lemon gel and parsley oil — appears across menus and has become the dish most associated with Fol's time at the restaurant. Raw amberjack with tiger milk and Osietra Giaveri caviar, BBQ scallops with beurre blanc, grilled Wagyu beef, and the Gritti Tiramisù with mascarpone cream and coffee praline round out a menu that moves between the lagoon and the mountains without losing coherence.

The à la carte dinner and the Gritti Terrace lunch menus extend the range further: Venetian-style calf's liver with red Ottofile corn polenta, mixed fried fish from the Rialto Market, ancient grain pasta with Osietra caviar, and seasonal garden tomatoes all appear alongside more internationally familiar preparations. The Sunday Brunch on the terrace — available from late May through early August — brings Venetian traditions like sardines in saor, creamed salt cod, and cuttlefish in ink into a more convivial, shared format.

The Setting

The outdoor Grand Canal Terrace is the social hub of the experience from April through October — tables set over the water, gondolas passing at arm's length, the facades of the canal's palazzi as backdrop. In the evening, the terrace transitions into the full fine dining atmosphere of Club del Doge. Inside, the club-like atmosphere of the dining room offers a quieter, more intimate alternative. The Riva Lounge, designed around the materials of the iconic Riva Yacht, and the elegant Bar Longhi — where Bar Manager Cristiano Luciani's wild fennel martini has its own following — complete a property that works as a destination across different hours and moods.

Reservations are open to both hotel guests and outside visitors, year-round.