One of the accidental benefits of this trip was the opportunity to celebrate a friend’s 21st, well maybe a multiplier more, birthday.

As my friend is not exactly frugal or the retiring type he picked Oro at the Cipriani.

Being a restrained and bashful type, we allowed the guest of honour to decide on the venue and, as it was his birthday, the wine pairing as well.

Before we headed to Oro, we needed a cocktail after the arduous water taxi ride to the Cipriani….. Martinis anyone?

Nice and dry.. great start.

One of the challenges of Venice is the pigeons. So what does one do to sort this. A falcon and a falconer of course.

Time for Oro … Please check your dining guides as this place has a dress code. Adult clothes, long pants, proper collared shirt, and covered shoes.

This place is on the list, requires advance booking, months apparently, though easier mid week.

Not a bad view.

Time for what we are here for food, oh and wine. I can say I was very worried about where this would head… Thankfully my friend had a semblance of restraint.

In all honesty this is one of the most expensive restaurants I have ever dined in, is it worth it? You need to read until the … No cheating

Food time

We, well the person of the year, decide to go with tasting menu. If you have made it this far why not go the full hog? Just asking.. Please ensure your children have completed at least one masters degree before committing to the tasting menu (a community announcement)

Oro

First impression is classy, great view. I  worried it will be a facsimile, a copy for the young folks. I was so wrong, the place is the real deal. Great food and a wine list that most associate with a mortgage payment.

Where do I start. The snqcks. I will try to write more later, I wanted to get an awesome gastrointestinal experience out there.

Snacks

The sardines were awesome (the red wafers, the others were great and would win with lesser competition

NV Zenato Lugana DOC Pas Dosé Metodo Classico

Oz’s Wine Rating 4.5 out of 5. An awesome wine to kick things off with.

The Bread and Olive Oil

Amazing bread and very good olive oil.

Lagoon

Tasty, though not my fav

2010 Ferrari, Guilo Reserva del Fondatore

Oz’s Wine Rating 3.5 out of 5 (The guest of honour’s rating 4.4 out of 5)

Oyster

This triggered me! Tastes so much better than it looks

Krug Rose

Oz’s Wine Rating 4.5 out of 5 (The guest of honour’s rating 4.6). What a wine!

Venetian Red

The Chef is not making it easy, another interesting dish and tasty dish.

2012 Biondi Santi  Tenuta Greppo Rosato

Oz’s Wine Rating 4 out 5 (The guest of honour’s rating 3.8)

Bigoli in Salsa

Really enjoyed this, but the Oyster is still in lead for best dish.

2019 Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzio

Oz’s Wine Rating 4 out of 5 (The guest of honour’s rating 4.2 out of 5)

Risotto with Nettle and Morlacco Cheese

And the great dishes keep coming. Tasty

2016 Peter Jacob Kühn Schlehdirn Riesling

Oz’s Wine Rating 3.5 out of 5 (The guest of honour’s rating 3.7 out of 5)

Turbot with ‘Mugnai’ Sauce and Peas

A good dish, the Turbot was cooked perfectly, the sauce and fish paired well, of course.

1993 Gaja Costa Russi

Oz’s Wine Rating 4.5 out 5 (The guest of honour’s rating 4.5 out of 5)

Tortellini by Tortellante with Parmegiano Reggiano Cream

The Tortellini was an add on, as we won’t be back anytime soon, we all agreed why not. An interesting dish, nice way to prepare for the dessert.

2018 Chateau d’Yquem

Oz’s Wine Rating 3.5 out of 5, this is going to be amazing, just needs time. (The guest of honour’s rating 4.5 out 5). The pairing of d’Yquem with the Tortellini was an interesting one, it did work, very glad we had the opportunity to try this.

Tiramisu

This was a definite step, or maybe 3 or 4 steps, up on the previous Tiramisu we have had so far in Venice.

Tastes as good as it looks. Also a very unique presentation of the dish.

1995 Royal Tokaji Azsú 6 Puttonyos

Oz’s Wine Rating 4 out of 5 (The guest of honour’s rating 4.4 out of 5)

After Dinner Snacks

What a great way to finish what was an excellent dinner and wine pairing.

The Menu

A nice touch was the signature of the sommelier. They forgot to include the two add ons, which was a bit of a laugh.

Oro @ Cipriani

WoW, this was an excellent dinner made even better by sharing it with awesome friends.

Everything was spot on. The staff were attentive but not overly so, they seemed to enjoy engaging with us, especially the Sommelier as we were interested in the reasoning behind his selection of wine pairings.

The food presentation was well thought out and very pleasing to the eye. Every dish was tasty but there can be only one winner well, maybe two, on this night it was the Oyster that won the day.

When comes to the wine pairing there were a couple of not so obvious pairs, but each pairing worked and worked very well. My wine (well wines) of the night were the Krug, Zenato and Gaja, they were all excellent.

If you have a chance to dine at Oro I highly recommend it, but make sure you have a decent credit limit… The meal was an event and definitely lives up to the hype and is worth the price tag.

Our return to the hotel was again by water taxi, my photography was not exactly up to the mark, unfortunately.

Until next time!

Cheers!

Apologies for the weird look to the post, I created this on phone. Will try to get better at this.