Palazzina Grassi

In conversation with the kitchen

Between Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge, overlooking the Canal Grande, is a 5-star boutique hotel by Philippe Starck that offers research cocktail mixing in the spaces shared with the gourmet restaurant. That’s the work by Lucas Kelm, bar manager since February 2022. His idea – which you can also enjoy in other hotel spaces, including the lounge and the terrace – involves a long time devoted to preparations to better concentrate on the client at the table or the counter. There’s a solid collaboration with the kitchen, both in developing recipes (including clarifications, macerations, and distillations of seasonal ingredients – often coming from the kitchen) and during the service, when cocktails are sartorially paired to dishes and vice versa. Exotic and rare spices take center stage in cocktails, as do local ingredients (like wild fennel, Barena honey, and Sant’Erasmo artichokes) and spirits from tequila to mezcal through whisky. The menu ranges from classics and revisions to creative signature drinks and refined alcohol-free drinks.

Favorite cocktail? Tommy’s Margarita