Author: The Smalls

At 2,275 meters atop Kronplatz, AlpiNN turns lunch into one of the Dolomites’ great mountaintop experiences. Reached by cable car and surrounded by sweeping views of the Alps and Dolomites, the restaurant combines contemporary South Tyrolean cuisine, striking design, and an exceptional cultural experience at the summit.

For Best Day Every Day, the way to experience AlpiNN is through its à la carte menu. Settle in for a leisurely mountain lunch and choose according to the season rather than committing to a formal tasting journey. The cooking is rooted in South Tyrol, with beautifully prepared pastas, regional ingredients, mountain cheeses, meats, vegetables, and dishes that feel sophisticated without losing the relaxed pleasure of lunch at altitude.

The setting is every bit as important. Designed by South Tyrolean-born designer Martino Gamper, AlpiNN feels contemporary and warm, with enormous windows turning the surrounding mountains into part of the dining room.

But don’t come to Kronplatz solely for lunch. AlpiNN shares the summit with LUMEN Museum of Mountain Photography, an extraordinary museum dedicated to the relationship between photography and the mountains. Together, the museum, architecture, landscape, cable-car journey, and lunch transform AlpiNN from a restaurant reservation into a memorable half-day Dolomite experience.

High above the Venetian lagoon, Restaurant Terrazza Danieli occupies one of the most spectacular dining locations in Venice. The signature restaurant of the newly reopened Danieli, Venezia, A Four Seasons Hotel pairs panoramic views with a renewed culinary identity under Executive Chef Adriano Rausa.

From the rooftop terrace, Venice unfolds in almost cinematic fashion: the lagoon, San Giorgio Maggiore, passing boats, church domes, and islands stretch across the horizon. Four Seasons itself compares the 360-degree panorama to a Canaletto painting—and from the right table, it’s difficult to disagree.

But the new Terrazza Danieli deserves attention for more than its view. Chef Rausa describes his approach as classic Italian cuisine with a strong Venetian identity and his own Mediterranean influence. Relationships with small farmers and fishermen are central to the kitchen, with locally sourced ingredients arriving from the lagoon, including produce from Sant’Erasmo.

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Terrazza Danieli offers three very different ways to experience the rooftop. Yet when the weather cooperates, dining outside as Venice and the lagoon stretch below is the moment that makes this restaurant unforgettable.

Hidden on Calle dei Assassini near San Marco, Vini da Arturo is one of those wonderfully unconventional Venetian restaurants that has remained true to itself for more than 50 years. Founded by Ernesto Ballarin in 1973 and now carried forward by longtime collaborator and owner Hani, this tiny institution does something almost rebellious in a city surrounded by water: it serves no fish.

Instead, the focus is meat, vegetables, pasta, and a handful of dishes that have achieved near-cult status among devoted regulars. The signature is the enormous Venetian pork chop — double-breaded, beautifully crisp, and finished with wine vinegar — alongside favorites such as Pasta alla Siciliana and filet with green pepper sauce.

Intimate, eccentric, and completely personal, Arturo feels increasingly rare in modern Venice. This is not polished hotel dining or a restaurant designed for passing tourists. It is a tiny room with history, personality, and food people cross oceans to eat again.