ORO, the Michelin-starred restaurant at Hotel Cipriani in Venice, has entered a new chapter under Head Chef Vania Ghedini. Appointed by Culinary Creative Director Massimo Bottura, Ghedini is building the restaurant’s cuisine around the lagoon, Veneto and influences gathered through her own career.

The restaurant has also been redesigned by architect Peter Marino, so the change is not limited to the kitchen. Food, interiors and the views across the lagoon are being treated as parts of one dining experience.

The lagoon becomes the starting point

Ghedini’s cooking draws heavily on ingredients from Venice and the surrounding region. The approach is described as complex in execution but simple in presentation, allowing technique to remain behind the scenes rather than dominate the plate visually.

Her years in Morocco also appear through flavours and ideas brought into the Venetian context. That combination gives the menu a personal identity without disconnecting it from the place in which it is served.

ORO LUCE adds a more flexible way to dine

The new ORO LUCE à la carte menu is inspired by the heritage of Venice and the conviviality of Italian living. It provides an alternative to a more formal tasting progression and gives guests greater control over how they use the restaurant.

That flexibility is especially useful for travellers and yacht guests whose schedule may already include long lunches, aperitivo or a late return from the water. Fine dining can feel more luxurious when it adapts to the evening rather than controlling it.

Peter Marino reinterprets the room

The interiors draw on La Dolce Vita and the glamour surrounding Venice’s art world in the 1950s and 1960s. Marino’s work is intended to preserve the romance of the location while giving the restaurant a clearer contemporary identity.

ORO sits at the water’s edge on Giudecca Island, so changing light across the lagoon becomes part of the room throughout the day. That makes the setting particularly suited to guests arriving by boat rather than by road.

A destination restaurant should justify the transfer

Hotel Cipriani is only a short boat ride from St Mark’s Square, but the water crossing creates a useful sense of separation from the busiest parts of Venice. The restaurant therefore begins before guests sit down, with the journey across the lagoon functioning as part of the evening.

For LYG readers, ORO is exactly the kind of dining destination worth planning into a yacht or city itinerary. It combines a marine setting, serious food, architectural design and a transfer that feels natural to people already accustomed to moving through a destination by water.