Vania Ghedini.
Photo: Letizia Cigliutti
Creative Mind: Vania Ghedini
The chef masterfully blends the flavors of Marrakech and Venice at Oro, the Michelin-starred restaurant at the celebrated Belmond property Hotel Cipriani
“Like a Potato in Tecia,” a dish from the dinner menu at Oro at the Hotel Cipriani, a Belmond Hotel. Photo: Letizia Cigliutti
“It’s been a fascinating segue for me to move from Marrakech to Venice,” says Vania Ghedini, who last spring became the chef of the kitchens of the city’s glamorous Michelin-starred restaurant Oro at the celebrated Hotel Cipriani, a Belmond Hotel. Having relocated after launching Sesamo restaurant at Marrakech’s famed Royal Mansour, Ghedini finds tantalizing ways to merge the cooking styles of both destinations. “The Venetian palate crosshatches with Moroccan cooking, which means that I’ve been able to create dishes that explore this mingling of spices and flavors.”
Local imports: A native of Ferrara, Italy, where her grandparents owned a bakery, she joined Gruppo Alajmo at the renowned Le Calandre restaurant near Padua in 2016. Two years later, the group sent her to Marrakech, where she was working when Michelin three-star legend Massimo Bottura, culinary creative director at the Hotel Cipriani, asked her to become the head chef at Oro. Besotted by Morocco and heavily pregnant, she initially thought to decline the offer, but family and friends convinced her the job was too good to refuse—and that you don’t turn down Massimo Bottura.
“The Venetian Lagoon is one of the richest pantries in the world”
Vania Ghedini
Oro. Photo: Letizia Cigliutti
Risotto with bruscandoli and morlacco cheese. Photo: Marco Valmarana
Golden touch: At Oro—the name refers to the gold-leaf-lined dome surmounting the space, designed by interior architect Adam Tihany—menus change with each season but skew profoundly local, using unique seafood sourced from the surrounding waterways as well as the vegetables like artichokes and cardoons that are grown on small farms on nearby islands. Canocia, a crustacean found at the bottom of the Venetian Lagoon, is prepared in saor using onions and vinegar. Bigoli in salsa, another typically Venetian dish, is made with onions and salt-cured anchovies over whole-wheat pasta. Ghedini’s renegade side is on display in succulent dishes like a lobster mechoui with mussel sauce. “The Venetian Lagoon is one of the richest pantries in the world,” she says.
Sant'erasmo Artichoke. Photo: Marco Valmarana
“Moeche“ egg sauce with guanciale and squid-ink. Photo: Letizia Cigliutti
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Spring Issue under the headline “Creative Minds.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Cover: Vania Ghedini.
Photo: Letizia Cigliutti
