Restaurant in Venice, Italy
Ten seats, canal views, book early.
Dama is a ten-cover creative Italian restaurant in a Cannaregio palazzo, earning a Michelin Plate (2025) and OAD Top Restaurants in Europe recognition at €€€ pricing. With just three tables overlooking the canal, it functions as a semi-private dining experience by design — making it one of Venice's better choices for a special occasion or small group dinner without the cost of a four-star restaurant.
Yes — with a specific caveat. Dama is the right call if you want creative Italian cooking with a genuine sense of place, in a setting that makes the occasion feel deliberate rather than touristy. Chef Lorenzo Cogo's kitchen earns a Michelin Plate (2025) and back-to-back appearances on the Opinionated About Dining Leading Restaurants in Europe list (ranked #471 in 2024, #481 in 2025), which tells you the cooking is consistent and peer-respected even if it hasn't crossed into star territory. At €€€ pricing, it sits below the cost of Venice's splurge tier while delivering a more considered experience than the city's tourist-trap canal-side options. If you are planning a celebration dinner, a date, or a business meal where the room needs to feel considered, Dama clears that bar.
Dama occupies Ca' Bonfadini, a historic palazzo on the Cannaregio canal. The dining room holds just three wooden tables, and the maximum capacity is ten guests. That is not a typo: this is one of Venice's most intimate restaurant formats, which changes the calculus of booking it entirely. You are not choosing between a counter seat and a main room — the room itself is essentially a private dining experience by default. Every service runs at full attention for a very small group, which is exactly what a special occasion calls for.
The Cannaregio setting is worth factoring into your planning. This is not the San Marco tourist corridor; it is a quieter, more residential stretch of the city, and that registers in the atmosphere. The canal view from the room adds genuine context rather than manufactured backdrop. If you are visiting Venice for the first time and want to see the city as it actually functions , rather than as it performs for visitors , this neighbourhood placement is a practical advantage.
The menu at Dama is described as creative Italian with an even split between meat and fish, grounded in regional tradition but not bound by it. That positioning places Cogo's cooking in a productive middle space: it is not the full avant-garde format of Glam Restaurant by Enrico Bartolini or the rigour of Osteria Francescana in Modena, but it is meaningfully more creative than a traditional trattoria. The OAD ranking confirms this is cooking that serious diners notice and return to , not a one-visit novelty. For context on what regional creative Italian at this level looks like nationally, compare it to Le Calandre in Rubano or Villa Crespi in Orta San Giulio , Dama is operating in the same conversation at a more accessible price point.
Balance of meat and fish dishes matters practically: if you are booking for a group with mixed preferences, you are less likely to hit a dead end with the menu here than at a restaurant with a pronounced seafood-only focus.
With a maximum of ten covers and only three tables, every booking at Dama is functionally a semi-private event. There is no busy main room to be seated away from, no corner table versus prime table negotiation. The intimacy is structural, not incidental. For a group of six to ten, this is one of the few Venice restaurants where the room physically belongs to your party for the duration of service , the kind of experience that at venues like Ristorante Quadri would require booking a dedicated private dining room at a significant premium.
If you are planning a significant birthday, an anniversary, or a small corporate dinner, the format here is unusually well-suited. The setting reads as occasion-appropriate without being formal to the point of stiffness. For larger groups or a more theatrical setting, Oro Restaurant or Wistèria offer different trade-offs worth comparing.
Because this restaurant seats a maximum of ten guests across three tables, availability moves faster than most Venice restaurants of comparable standing. Book as early as possible , the small capacity means a single group booking can effectively fill the room for a service. Both lunch and dinner run daily (12:30–3 pm and 7–10 pm), which gives you flexibility, though dinner is the natural fit for a celebratory occasion. Lunch is worth considering if you want a less pressured pace or plan to continue your afternoon in Cannaregio.
Reservations: Book as far in advance as your plans allow , ten-cover rooms fill with minimal notice. Budget: €€€ pricing places this in the mid-upper tier for Venice; expect to spend meaningfully but not at the level of four-euro-sign venues. Dress: No formal dress code is listed, but the intimacy of the room and the occasion-oriented clientele suggest smart casual at minimum. Getting there: Ca' Bonfadini is on the Cannaregio canal; water taxi or vaporetto to the area, then a short walk. Hours: Daily 12:30–3 pm and 7–10 pm.
Dama occupies a specific and useful niche. It is more creative and considered than Al Covo or Corte Sconta, which are excellent traditional Venetian restaurants but not what you would choose if the format of the evening matters as much as the food. It costs less than Ristorante Quadri and Local, both of which operate at €€€€ and come with more recognisable profiles. The OAD ranking and Michelin Plate confirm Dama is not a compromise choice , it earns its place at the table on merit, not just format.
For broader context on where Dama fits within Italian creative dining, the relevant comparisons are restaurants like Dal Pescatore in Runate, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, or Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense , all working in the creative Italian register at different price and formality levels. Dama is the accessible, intimate end of that spectrum, which is precisely why it works for Venice specifically.
See our full guides to Venice restaurants, Venice hotels, Venice bars, Venice wineries, and Venice experiences for further planning.
Dama is a ten-cover restaurant in Ca' Bonfadini on the Cannaregio canal, serving creative Italian with equal weight given to meat and fish. The room seats a maximum of ten across three tables, so the experience is intimate by design. It holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and OAD Leading Restaurants in Europe recognition , solid credentials for a first visit. At €€€ pricing, it is more accessible than Venice's top-tier options. Book early; the small size means it fills quickly.
For traditional Venetian cooking at a similar price point, Osteria alle Testiere and Al Covo are the comparison to make , both are respected and operate at €€€. If you want to spend more for a grander setting and more established profile, Ristorante Quadri and Local are the €€€€ options. For creative cooking with more culinary ambition, Glam Restaurant by Enrico Bartolini is the natural step up.
No formal dress code is listed, but the room is small and occasion-driven , smart casual is the sensible baseline. At €€€ pricing with Michelin recognition and a maximum of ten covers, this is not a jeans-and-trainers room. Venice in general runs more dressed-up than many European cities, and the Cannaregio palazzo setting reinforces that. Think a step above what you would wear to a standard restaurant dinner.
For a special occasion, dinner. The evening service at 7 pm fits the occasion framing better and is the natural format for celebration or business meals. Lunch (12:30 pm) is the better call if you want the same food in a lighter, less committed setting , useful if you plan to continue into the afternoon rather than make the meal the centrepiece of the day. The menu and price point are the same across both services.
There is no bar seating listed for Dama. With only three tables and ten total covers, the restaurant does not have the floor space for an informal counter or bar option. If you are looking for a more casual entry point into Venice's creative dining scene, Wistèria or a Cannaregio wine bar would be the practical alternative.
Specific menu format details are not confirmed in available data. What the Michelin Plate and back-to-back OAD Leading Restaurants in Europe rankings confirm is that the kitchen's output is consistent and respected by serious diners. At €€€ pricing, Dama sits below the cost of Venice's starred venues , which means if a tasting format is offered, it is likely competitive value relative to peers like Glam or Quadri. Confirm format and pricing directly when booking.
Yes , it is one of the better-suited options in Venice for exactly this use case. The three-table, ten-cover format means your group effectively has the room, which is a structural advantage for occasions where atmosphere matters. The Michelin Plate and OAD recognition give you confidence in the food quality. The canal-side palazzo setting in Cannaregio reads as genuinely occasion-appropriate without the tourist-circuit weight of a San Marco venue. Book with enough lead time; the small capacity means it fills faster than its profile might suggest.
Specific dishes are not listed in available data, and the menu at a creative Italian restaurant of this type changes regularly. What the awards record and menu description confirm is that the kitchen gives equal attention to meat and fish, and that the cooking is grounded in regional tradition while staying creative. Ask the kitchen at the time of booking what the current format is and whether there are dishes that have been consistent across menus , at a ten-cover restaurant, that kind of direct conversation is both appropriate and encouraged.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dama Restaurant | The cuisine served at this restaurant comes from a deep knowledge of the region, is inspired by tradition and yet constantly evolving. At Dama , guests will find creative cuisine with an equal balance of meat and fish dishes. Housed within Ca’ Bonfadini, the restaurant boasts an outstanding location overlooking Cannaregio canal, while the attractive dining room has just three elegant wooden tables that encourage sharing and can accommodate up to 10 guests.; Michelin Plate (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Europe Ranked #481 (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Europe Ranked #471 (2024); Michelin Plate (2024) | €€€ | — |
| Local | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Ristorante Quadri | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Osteria alle Testiere | World's 50 Best | €€€ | — |
| Al Covo | €€€ | — | |
| Corte Sconta | €€€ | — |
How Dama Restaurant stacks up against the competition.
The room seats a maximum of ten guests across three shared wooden tables, so this is not a conventional restaurant visit — it is closer to a private dinner in a canal-side palazzo. Chef Lorenzo Cogo's menu splits evenly between meat and fish, rooted in regional Venetian tradition but shaped by a creative approach that has earned a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025. Book as far in advance as possible; with only ten covers, availability disappears faster than at most Venice restaurants of comparable standing. Arriving without a reservation is not a realistic option.
For traditional Venetian seafood done well, Osteria alle Testiere and Al Covo are the clearest alternatives — both are more accessible to book and offer a la carte flexibility that Dama may not. Ristorante Quadri at Piazza San Marco operates at a higher price point and formal register, suited to a different type of occasion. Dama is the right choice specifically when you want creative, evolving Italian cooking in an intimate, semi-private setting on the Cannaregio canal rather than a classic neighbourhood trattoria experience.
The venue is housed within Ca' Bonfadini, a historic palazzo with an elegant dining room, and the maximum capacity is ten guests — that context calls for smart dress rather than casual attire. The database does not specify a formal dress code, but the setting and price range (€€€) suggest that jeans and trainers would feel out of place. Treat it as you would any serious Italian restaurant operating at this level: dress neatly and err on the side of over-dressing.
Both services run the same hours pattern — 12:30 to 3pm for lunch and 7 to 10pm for dinner — and the Cannaregio canal setting works to your advantage in daylight, when the view from Ca' Bonfadini is at its clearest. Dinner tends to feel more occasion-appropriate given the intimate room and the cooking style, but lunch is the better bet if you want a shorter commitment or slightly looser atmosphere. Neither service has a clear advantage on the food itself based on available information.
No. The dining room holds only three wooden tables accommodating up to ten guests in total, and there is no bar seating referenced in the venue data. Every guest sits at one of the tables, which makes this a reservation-only proposition with no walk-in or bar counter option.
Dama's menu is described as creative Italian, grounded in regional tradition but constantly evolving — the format lends itself naturally to a tasting menu structure, and at the €€€ price range the investment is material but in line with comparable Venice restaurants operating at this level. The Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025, combined with the Opinionated About Dining ranking (Top 500 in Europe both years), supports the case that the kitchen delivers consistently enough to justify the spend. Specific menu pricing is not publicly confirmed, but if tasting menus are not your preferred format, the creative approach here may not be the right fit — Al Covo offers a more traditional a la carte experience.
Yes, and the format is well-suited to it: a maximum of ten guests across three tables means there is no loud main room, and the Ca' Bonfadini palazzo on the Cannaregio canal provides a setting that does not need to be dressed up further. The cooking is creative Italian at €€€, with Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025. The main consideration is group size — this works well for two to four people, but parties larger than ten cannot be accommodated, and even smaller groups should confirm table configuration when booking.
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