In Burano, a restaurant run by the Barbaro family for 4 generations where you can enjoy traditional seafood cuisine surrounded by hundreds of paintings, a custom started by Romano himself, a patron ante litteram of emerging talents who were, literally, at home in his trattoria.
Da Romano’s history coincides with that of Burano, known as the Island of Colors for its characteristic fishermen’s houses painted in all the rainbow colors. It all began towards the end of the 19th century when Romano’s parents ran a small business, a point of reference for the community, where they also offered home cooking for the island’s people.
It was around 1920 that Romano took over the management of the “bottega” from his father, moving the location twice, and transforming it, with the help of his wife Gigia, into a trattoria. The move to the current building, which at the time was a lace-making factory and school, took place in 1947.
At the Da Romano restaurant everything is refined, sincere, and simple; beyond the good food a daily miracle is perpetuated which is that of feeling at home.
(Monsieur Slavink, a regular customer)
At that time, thanks to the Art Biennale, Venice was starting to become a point of reference for art and, just as was happening in other parts of the world, such as the famous La Colombe d’Or in Saint-Paul-de-Vence loved by Picasso and Matisse, Burano also began to be frequented by many artists attracted by its timeless charm.
Romano, who had always been a lover of contemporary art, immediately favored this trend, becoming friends with many of them who, in return for the hospitality, gave him their works. A collection today composed of hundreds of paintings that cover every corner of the walls of the place, with names that have also become very famous, from Arturo Martini to Filippo De Pisis, from Beppe Ciardi to Lucio Fontana.
A passion passed down from grandparents Romano and Gigia, first to their son Orazio and his wife Linda, then to their daughters Anna and Rossella who, with their respective husbands and children, run the restaurant today, continuing to offer fish recipes handed down from generation to generation.
In addition to the family, always present in the venue, the values of the brand are also carried forward by the trusted personnel, in elegant white jackets, most of whom have proudly served the restaurant for a lifetime.
From seafood appetizers, mixed cooked or raw, to the famous Risotto di Go’, tagliolini pasta with spider crab and spaghetti with seafood, or second courses such as mixed fried fish and grilled fish made strictly on wood grills, fish lovers will certainly not be disappointed here.
Chef Mirco, together with his trusted team of cooks, is also specialized in bringing forward all the typical products of Burano, such as the famous Bussolai and Esse biscuits.
And if the venue’s Hall of Fame is truly incredible – from Giorgio Armani to Keith Richards, just look at all the photos of VIPs hanging in the corridor next to the kitchen – Da Romano remains a safe haven where everyone truly feels pampered like family, cradled by a time that here passes more slowly than in the rest of the world.
The Secret
Until the mid-1900s, Burano was a place out of the world, inhabited only by fishermen and lacemakers as it could only be reached by private boat. In the 1930s, the first vaporetti (sea buses) arrived, an epochal event for the island which still remains one of the most authentic places in the Venice Lagoon.
Useful Info
Da Romano
Via Baldassarre Galuppi 221
30142 Burano, Venezia
Tel. +39 041 730030
Sea bus line 12 to Burano from Fondamente Nove
Starters: from 16 euro
First courses: from 18 euro
Second courses: from 20 euro
