It’s no coincidence that the 19th-century fresco overlooking the restaurant hall, reborn after the restoration of Villa Apollonio and attributed to Francesco Bagnara, superintendent and set designer for twenty years at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, is titled “The Chariot of Love.”

The project began in 2015 with a dream of love: when Maria Pia Viaro and Massimo Vallotto purchased the 16th-century Villa Apollonio and the surrounding land to create a village based on a sustainable circular economy and a winery—now the nearby Ca’ da Roman Winery—which produces exclusively wines from PIWI grape varieties, which are naturally resistant to disease.

Flavors that emerge from memories, ingredients that speak of home, respecting nature’s rhythms.

Nature According to Chef Alessio Longhini

Ca’ Apollonio Heritage’s culinary offerings are the work of Executive Chef Alessio Longhini, a Michelin-starred chef at the Stube Gourmet at the Hotel Europa in Asiago, who trained with Corrado Fasolato at the Met in Venice and Norbert Nierderkofler at St. Hubertus – Rosa Alpina in San Cassiano. Longhini leads a young team that celebrates the seasons and the precious raw materials sourced from a select, short-range supply chain, or rather, “50 steps.”

Not far from the restaurant is a hectare of organically cultivated vegetable gardens, where the ancient wisdom of regenerative agriculture embraces nature’s legacy and passes it on through orchards of heirloom varieties, aromatic herbs, and intensely flavorful plant species that supply the restaurant, along with local artisans for the meat and fish, and a selection of select Italian delicacies.

In July 2024, Ca’ Apollonio achieved the highest Gold Restaurant level for CER certification, an acronym for Care’s Ethical Restaurant, the prestigious international sustainability award that certifies a restaurant’s overall environmental impact according to measurable and verifiable standards with parameters such as responsible ingredient sourcing, efficient resource management, employee well-being, and active involvement of the local community.

The Tasting Menus

Two tasting menus are available: Familiarity, a tale of the chef’s origins featuring some of his signature dishes, and Conjunction, a journey balancing roots and vision with greater room for experimentation. Every guest request is welcomed, including menu modifications or special requests.

The dishes are designed to ensure the flavors of the ingredients are always distinctive and delicious—from trout, buttermilk, Bassano broccoli, green apple, horseradish, and dill to Tenuta Margherita Carnaroli rice, cavolo nero, sardines, and saor, to beetroot, combava, and strawberry grapes—enriched by ancient techniques such as fermentation and marination.

The “Elegant Host”

The dining room, led by maître d’ Lorenzo Palma, a longtime member of the Alajmo group, follows the philosophy of the elegant host, where the warmth of human contact, orchestrated with great refinement, is never lacking.

Sommelier Michele Griggio oversees the wine pairings, curating the wine list, which boasts over 1,000 labels, the most extensive of Piwi wines in Italy. His domain is the beautiful underground cellar, which also features a convivial table dedicated to tastings.

An aperitif immersed in nature

Especially in the warmer months, before dinner, the perfect experience is to order a glass of wine in the lounge area overlooking the biodynamic lake and the vineyards, perhaps sampling one of the 10 wines from the Ca’ da Roman estate, such as the white wine “369,” a single-varietal Souvignier Gris PIWI, named after Nikola Tesla’s theories on the numerical perfection of the universe.

Chef Longhini is one of the greatest talents of the Veneto region, and Ca’ Apollonio Gourmet is definitely worth a visit.

The Secret

Chef Longhini also manages the Ca’ Apollonio Bistrot, located in another wing of the hotel. Here, the same sophistication and quality of the Gourmet restaurant is expressed in dishes rooted in local tradition, such as the hand-crafted “Vaca Teja” tartare, marinated red cabbage, mustard, and puffed polenta; the homemade egg fusilli pasta with farmyard ragù and bay leaves; and the guinea fowl leg stuffed with spring onion and lard. Another must-go address to note down.

Useful Info

Ca’ Apollonio Gourmet
Via Molinetto 5/A
36060 Romano d’Ezzelino, Vicenza
Tel. +39 0424 1910054

Tasting menus: from 110 and 150 euros, wine pairings from 60 and 75 euros