Presentation of the Traditional Panettone by Chef Gennaro Esposito

In Venice, Nani Mocenigo Palace presents: “At Christmas, your home in Venice”, a special project that interprets the spirit of the holidays through the authenticity of Venetian hospitality.

Located in an ancient noble palace once home to the Doge, the hotel celebrates Christmas by giving guests the most precious feeling of the festive season: feeling at home. Throughout the month of December, the palace’s interiors will be transformed into an intimate, warm, and evocative holiday setting thanks to decorations inspired by local craftsmanship and the family rituals and traditions typical of the lagoon.

Every ornament produced by the New Murano Gallery, an artistic glassworks founded by the descendants of one of the island’s oldest families, is created through mouth-blowing: the molten glass, gathered from the furnace at over 1000°C, is shaped manually with ancient gestures and transformed into light and perfect spheres. The surfaces are embellished with murrine applied hot, tiny pieces of colored glass that, as they melt, create unique motifs.

Nani Mocenigo Palace introduces a series of initiatives designed to engage guests and create a truly homelike atmosphere. It begins with the Participatory Christmas Tree: guests will be invited to complete the palace’s tree decorations with a personal ornament or thought. A symbolic gesture that transforms the hall into a lively, shared, and uniquely evolving place each day.

In the food section, surprises abound, starting with the artisan Panettone signed by Gennaro Esposito, the Michelin-starred chef who collaborates with the restaurant La Bauta, located directly inside the hotel.

For Christmas, guests can taste Gennarino’s tailor-made panettone in variations with three types of raisins, candied oranges, and apricots, with custom packaging created for Nani Mocenigo. Only at the hotel will it be possible to purchase the prestigious “Traditional Panettone” by Gennaro Esposito. A filling that expresses the excellence of Italian pastry-making: fragrant local candied orange, top-quality raisins, and the aromatic touch of rare and precious honey from Campanian beekeeping blend with the warm notes of selected Bourbon vanilla beans. The ingredients, personally chosen by the chef, make every bite a unique experience, where the quality of raw materials meets the mastery of pastry tradition. 

Winter Snack: every week, the palace will offer moments dedicated to homemade flavors featuring typical Venetian traditional sweets: Xaeti (or “zaeti”), yellow Venetian biscuits made with corn flour, raisins, and butter, their name deriving from “zaeo”, meaning yellow in Venetian dialect; then Bussolà (or “bussolai / bussolai buranelli”), the iconic pastries of the island of Burano, ring-shaped and scented with vanilla and lemon. Lastly, Baicoli, extremely thin, very dry, and crunchy Venetian biscuits of ancient origin. They were once made to last long on ships; they are often eaten with zabaglione or dipped in sweet wine.

The restaurant menu curated by executive Chef Raffaele Iasevoli, in addition to dishes such as creamed cod (baccalà mantecato) or sardines in saor, is enriched with new proposals such as “Riserva San Massimo” risotto with Treviso radicchio, marinated mushroom tartare, Sorrento walnuts, and buffalo blue cheese, recreating the convivial atmosphere typical of the holidays.

And to engage all the senses, including smell, there is the Fragrance Corner thanks to the collaboration with Laboratorio Olfattivo. In the gallery, guests can try fragrances such as Arancio in fiore, which is also diffused in the hotel’s common areas to envelop guests in a sensory experience.

Nani Mocenigo Palace reaffirms its identity as a boutique hotel where history intertwines with contemporary hospitality, with the vision of offering guests a welcoming, intimate, and authentic Christmas, in a setting that preserves centuries of art and memory. An invitation to celebrate the holidays in Venice feeling at home, in a place where every detail reflects care, beauty, and tradition.