Choosing the Quadri signifies savouring the fascination and elegance of the only restaurant in St. Mark's Square and discovering the vitality of Venetian life from the tables of its Café under the 13th century porticos. The colours, tastes and cosmopolitanism of the old Venetian Republic have been captured for centuries in Gran Caffè Ristorante Quadri, a crossroads since the end of the 18th century until present between the destinies of Venetians and personalities sojourning in this extraordinary city.
Dreams sometimes come true and at the Quadri, as you sip a cocktail to the background music of its orchestra and the chimes of St. Mark’s bells, you can admire the sight of the most beautiful setting that human genius ever built. The Quadri is a Café and restaurant of refined culinary pleasures with a tradition of graciously welcoming those international and Venetian customers seeking quality cuisine and service. Gran Caffè Ristorante Quadri is one of the few restaurants in the world
that can boast the enduring charm of being unchanged despite the passing
of ages and fashions. So it is today that, as you sit in these rooms
worthy of an aristocratic residence, looking out onto the Square, you
still feel the atmosphere of those first cafés that changed the social
habits of Europeans between the twilight of the Venetian Republic and
the dawn of the modern age.
Its history has its roots on the distant 28 May 1775 when Giorgio
Quadri, a Venetian from the Levantine territories, disembarked from a
galley on Riva degli Schiavoni. Perhaps sensing the imminent break-up of
the Republic's territories, Quadri had left Corfù, along with his
savings and young and legendary Greek wife Naxina, to seek his fortune
in Venice. It was the bubbly Naxina who first had the idea of investing
the family's assets in a place that sold the "boiling black water".
The fashion of drinking coffee, a beverage obtained from a bean called
Khavè by the Turks, had just started to catch on in the then
cosmopolitan society of Venice. In fact, the first coffee shop had
opened as early as 1683 under the Procuratie Nuove in St. Mark's Square.
Contemporary accounts recorded that at Giorgio Quadri's time Venice had
208 bustling cafés, of which as many as 24 in St. Mark's Square. Naxina
immediately scented a bargain and together with her husband bought an
old coffee shop under the Procuratie Vecchie, on the corner of
Sottoportego dei Dai.
This place was already renowned in the city, having operated under the
name of "Il Rimedio" since 1638, selling Malvasia wine considered at the
time to be "a remedy" because it was believed, in the words of Tassini,
"to reinvigorate the body and reawaken the spirit". Politicians,
merchants and businessmen then switched their habits from wine to
coffee, including the Turkish variety which Quadri himself introduced to
Venice. In 1830 the Quadri was restored by the Vivarini brothers, who
gave the café a new lease of life by opening the upper floor as a
restaurant.
The ground floor rooms, with their distinctive stucco decorated in
pastel shades of light green and yellow, were the natural backdrop for
the splendid paintings by Giuseppe Ponga. His scenes of Venice followed
the fashion of the time, while his scenes of daily life in the manner of
Pietro Longhi adopted a truly personal style although also reminiscent -
especially in the use of bright colours - of the great Tiepolo.
Two centuries later the entire world has changed but not Venice, the
Quadri and the pleasure of meeting in an elegant, fashionable setting.
The Quadri is a way of feeling truly part of the city, attracting as
frequent visitors in bygone eras the likes of Stendhal, Lord Byron,
Alexandre Dumas, Wagner and Marcel Proust and in more recent times
Gorbaciov, Mitterand, Woody Allen and many actors from the Venice Film
Festival along with the "beautiful people" that for centuries have
chosen to meet in this eternally fashionable spot.
Since 1775 Ristorante Quadri has symbolised the highest standards in the
finest Venetian tradition. The suggestive outlook onto St. Mark's Square
makes Ristorante Quadri a must for anyone visiting Venice and wishing to
experience the full fascination of this symbolic location. The luxurious
furnishings, immaculate service, and cosy but elegant ambience all
contribute to making the Ristorante Quadri a unique and exclusive place
in Venice, perfect for special occasions. The refined cuisine, featuring
only fresh products, is prepared with a skill by the chefs that brings
joy to even the most expert palates.
Ristorante Quadri offers a refined cuisine using only seasonal produce,
combining the ingenious inventiveness of great chefs with Venetian
tradition. The result is a blend of classic flavours and natural
products like baked ice cream, a traditional Quadri recipe consisting of
amaretto mousse and almonds, topped with lightly baked meringue, the
favourite dessert of its most devoted customers. The irresistible
pleasure of visiting the Quadri changes over the year. Following the
seasons and the city's cultural and society events, it offers an
experience with ever changing accents.
During the periods of the Biennial, with its annual alternation of
Visual Arts and Architecture, and during
the Film Festival, the Quadri
becomes the preferred haunt of artists, architects, writers, actors and
journalists, while throughout the year the Caffè regularly hosts
cultural events and exhibitions. The Quadri's versatility allows it to
combine tradition and historic ambience with modern living, offering on
its first floor the romantic emotions of an exclusive evening in the
restaurant overlooking the Square, and on the ground floor the
indiscrete charm of a coffee or snack while watching Venice's comings
and goings from its windows.
The Quadri seeks distinction, placing a constant premium on courtesy and
the quality of its products, many of which its own exclusive production
like the famous gelato al forno (baked ice cream). A reputation that
dates back from afar. The unique position of the Quadri letting you to
take in the entire square and its splendid buildings in a single glance,
and the elegance and special charm of its ambience have always exercised
a particular hold over the illustrious figures who have passed through
the City of the Doges over the centuries.
On turning back the pages in the Quadri guest book, we discover that
Stendhal, the first great 19th century French novelist, and author of
The Charterhouse of Parma and The Red and the Black who had close links
with Italy, was a Quadri habitué. Lord Byron, the great British romantic
poet was so in love with Venice that he stayed on for three years. When
not writing works such as the Ode to Venice, Beppo: a Venetian story,
and Don Juan, he led a dissolute hedonistic life, partly spent in the
famous café. Honoré de Balzac, author of The Human Comedy, visited the
Quadri in 1837. Marcel Proust, whose feelings for Venice are expressed
in the splendid pages of The Death of Albertine, used to lunch at the
Quadri with his mother. Alexandre Dumas, who came to Venice to see
Verdi's staging of his Lady of the Camellias, spent huge sums of money
at the Quadri to satisfy his enormous appetite. The German composer,
Richard Wagner, who died in Venice, used to sip coffee at eleven every
morning, letting himself be admired without being disturbed through the
splendid café windows. With Nobel-prize winners, actors, writers and
singers, the international jet set continues to chose the Quadri.
Two centuries later the entire world has changed but not Venice, the
Quadri or the pleasure of meeting in an elegant, fashionable location.
More recent patrons include Nobel prize-winner Mikhail Gorbachev, who
played such an important part in the fall of communism and his wife
Raisa, the Swedish Royal Family, the New York filmmaker Woody Allen, who
has made Venice his second home, and many actors such as Marcello
Mastroianni, Robert DeNiro, Robin Williams, Antony Quinn, Brad Pitt,
Pierce Brosnan, Mariagrazia Cucinotta and the entire cast of the soap
opera "Beautiful". Other visitors include top models like Claudia
Schiffer, and representatives from the world of opera such as Katia
Ricciarelli, and from the world of pop such as the eclectic Sting.
Universally known celebrities alternate at the Quadri with scientists,
humanists, historians and archaeologists attending the numerous
theme-evenings hosted by this prestigious venue during the year.
