(1665 Piscina De Frezzaria, San Marco in Venice, Italy)

La Colomba restaurant in Venice, a few short paces from the Piazza San Marco and La Fenice theatre, ...has been a hub of the art scene for more than seventy years. Artists are often short of money, but as they still need to eat, hundreds of them – including Picasso and Chagall -- have left drawings and paintings as payment to La Colomba who displays them over every surface. You dine surrounded by art, a perfect accompaniment to the classic Venetian masterpiece on your plate. But La Colomba has been a restaurant, formerly a favourite with gondoliers and sailors, for more than two hundred years. Historic roots, modern delights. The menu features both typical Venetian and international cuisine, dishes like bresaola with parmesan and rocket salad, veal ravioli with tomato sauce, chateaubriand with béarnaise, accompanied by an entirely Italian wine list. La Colomba is one of Venice’s most famous restaurants and it often hosts groups of tourists, business folk and parties. Both the location and service are excellent for private events. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required to reserve a table for groups of 6 or more, if there is availability - this is simply to secure your booking, absolutely no money will be charged to the card except in the case of late cancellations. A fee of 25€ per person will be charged for a cancellation within 2 days or for a no show Opening hours: Mon - Sun 12:30pm 2:30pm & 7pm - 10:30pm Closed Thu lunch - Wed all day La Colomba was a Pablo Picasso's favourite. [moreless]

(1939 Campiello della Fenice, San Marco in Venice, Italy)

La Fenice restaurant is known in Venice as Taverna La Fenice, a name given by writer Gabriele d’Annu...nzio during the years of the First World War. Not many restaurants can make that claim. This charming, historic, romantic restaurant has stood beside the world-famous La Fenice opera house since 1907. Think ochre stucco, window boxes, fine Italian dining and superb Italian service in a traditional setting with fresh flowers, suffused light and a delightful terrace at the front of the restaurant surrounded by screens and plants. Even the presence of tour groups doesn’t mar the professional service or the romantic atmosphere. Dishes include La Fenice’s own carpaccio, risotto with scampi and rocket, tagliatelle with cream sauce and wild mushrooms, and turbot roasted with potatoes and tomato sauce. The wine list matches the excellence of the carte. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Wed - Mon 7pm - 11:30pm Tue: closed all day Patrons of La Fenice have included Pavarotti, Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Belmondo. [moreless]

(1 Via dei Bastioni in Rome, Italy)

Dining at Les Etoiles roof garden restaurant, you’ll be so close to the floodlit dome of St Peter’s ...you’ll feel you’re touching the skies of Rome. However, you shouldn’t let that distract you from the rest of the 360 degree panorama. Set atop the Hotel Atlante Star, Les Etoiles offers sophisticated modern and classic regional cuisine in a smart setting. The views are the thing, whether from the flower-bedecked terrace or inside beside the great windows. Dishes might include quail in casserole with mushrooms and herbs, artichokes stuffed with ricotta and pecorino cheeses, Venetian-style squid-ink risotto, roast suckling lamb perfumed with mint. Wines are Italian and French. This sublimely romantic setting would be the perfect spot to both pop the question and celebrate the wedding with a feast. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Mon - Sat 12:30pm - 2:30pm & 7:30pm - 10:30pm Sun: closed all day [moreless]

(6 Via Capo d'Africa in Rome, Italy)

Maud in Rome is bar, art gallery, and restaurant all rolled into one sleek, glamorous package. Locat...ed not two steps from the Coliseum down a charming street in the Celio quarter, Maud has a vivacious buzz that attracts artistic types and social butterflies. They adore the minimalist chic with a playful edge – everything at eye level is whiter than white, from the witty button-tufted high-backed banquettes and bar to the walls, highly-style light fittings and scribble place settings. The pale and interesting tones make a perfect backdrop to the changing array of modern art and the vibrant people adorning the venue. The menu is turbo-charged, innovative Italian (though Thursday is sushi night) with dishes like Iberian prosciutto with melon in port in a parmesan basket, tagliatelle in Chianti sauce with salsiccia and fennel, fillet of Argentinean steak in Barolo and pecorino sauce with sautéed potatoes, and ginger millefeuille with hot chocolate sauce. Interestingly, the water menu is even more international than the wine list, and both are worth exploration. This intriguing restaurant with its serious party ambience would be a very cool, in-the-know location for corporate or private entertaining. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Tue - Sun 7pm - 2am Monday closed all day Maud has a mineral water menu [moreless]

(14 Via Di Porta Pinciana in Rome, Italy)

Mirabelle restaurant in Rome is a Michelin-starred, gloriously lavish, exceeds-all-expectations supe...rstar. The mirrored seventh-floor dining room with its sumptuous pale gold décor and elegant crystal and china frames a magical rooftop view of the Eternal City. Chef Giuseppe Sestito uses superbly-sourced ingredients for haute cuisine dishes like artfully-presented seabass tartare with fennel salad and orange, oven-baked rack of lamb pre-sale with rosemary, and the famous Settimo Cielo – ‘Seventh Heaven’ – dessert. The excellent wine list is mostly Italian with some heavy hitters from beyond. Manager Bruno Borghesi, formerly of The Ritz, leads formal, friendly service, attracting jet setters, politicians and other beautiful people. Wear a jacket and be ready to have your senses ravished. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required to reserve a table, if there is availability for all bookings - this is simply to secure your booking, absolutely no money will be charged to the card except in the case of late cancellations. A fee of 100€ per person will be charged for a cancellation within 24 hrs or for a no show Opening hours: Daily 12:30pm - 3pm & 7:30pm - 11pm The lobby chandelier was used by Visconti in the ballroom scene of The Leopard [moreless]

(121 Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy)

Quadri restaurant in Venice – how romantic can one restaurant be? Candlelit views over Piazza San M...arco from the windowside tables, a single red rose in a bud vase, silver-domed dishes revealed with a flourish, the Quadri orchestra below, the chimes of San Marco above, crystal chandeliers, rose-coloured fabric-lined walls, gilt mirrors all invoke sighs of pure pleasure. Quadri has bags of history – it was founded in 1775 as a Turkish khava (coffee) house by one Giorgio Quadri from Corfu. The coffee house remains among the porticos on the ground floor, while the grand first floor restaurant was created in 1830. Absolutely everyone has dined here, from Lord Byron to Sting. The seasonal Italian menu features dishes like marinated seabass in puff pastry with baby spinach, cherry tomatoes and mustard, and bucatini pasta with eggplant and provela cheese, duck breast in fruit sauce. House wines are recommended. A pair of interconnecting dining rooms make Quadri an impressive choice for private or corporate entertaining, too, with a host of menus to choose from. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required to reserve a table, if there is availability - this is simply to secure your booking, absolutely no money will be charged to the card except in the case of late cancellations. A fee of 30€ per person will be charged for a cancellation within 2 days or for a no show. Please note that Quadri is closed on Monday from November till March. Opening hours: Mon - Sun 12:15pm - 2:15pm & 7:30pm - 10:15 pm [moreless]

(5/6 Via delle Coppelle in Rome, Italy)

Quinzi & Gabrieli restaurant in the heart of Rome’s centro storico, is celebrated for the freshness ...and quality of its fish menu. The dining rooms, set in a 16th century building near the Pantheon, are small, with vaulted ceilings, open kitchen, and tables that spill onto the terrace in warm weather overlooking a typical Roman square. Trompe l’oeil murals of seaside scenes set the tone, as do the VIP diners and starry big names who show up regularly. The fish is the freshest from Italian waters, cooked as little as possible so the flavours shine through. Wines are French and Italian and the service is renowned. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required for group bookings, absolutely no money will be charged to your card, this is just to secure the booking. Opening hours: Mon - Sat 7:45pm - 11pm Sun: closed all day [moreless]

(8/9 Via Della Rosetta in Rome, Italy)

La Rosetta restaurant – one of the few things on which Romans agree. La Rosetta is widely known as ...the best fish restaurant in Rome, and therefore one of the best anywhere. Chef-owner Massimo Riccioli took the helm twenty years ago, twenty years after his parents founded La Rosetta as the first all-fish restaurant in the city. On the doorstep of the Pantheon, the small, white, luxurious dining rooms attract high-rollers who adore the innovative Eastern-inflected new dishes as much as the traditional Sicilian ones that the restaurant was founded on. Fish are bought quayside daily so the menu is at the mercy of the catch, and all the stronger for it. Dishes include carpaccio of fresh fish drizzled with olive oil, tagliatelle of Mediterranean tuna with greens, chocolate mousse with candied orange. Tasting menu available. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Please be aware that Ristorante La Rosetta does not allow children under 6.A credit card is required to confirm all bookings. Absolutely nothing will be charged to the card, unelss in the event of late cancellations (less than 48 hours notice) or no-shows.There is a strict 2-hour time limit on all bookings, and sitting times for dinner are at 7:30pm & 9:45pm (please book the 9:30pm slot for this sitting). Opening hours: Mon - Sat 12:45pm - 2:45pm & 7:30pm - 11pmClosed Sundays and most of August. [moreless]

(7 Via della Penitenza in Rome, Italy)

Rivadestra restaurant is appearing on more and more ’10 Best Restaurants of Rome’ lists and you’ll u...nderstand why. Set in the Trastevere, Rivadestra reinterprets the luxury of the aristocratic papal Rome of the 1700s. The original 18th century doorway opens onto an intimate dining room set with scrubbed oak tables, coats of arms, suffused lighting, and impressive appointments. The menu changes every three weeks, and fresh ingredients are used to create a light new Italian Mediterranean cuisine. Past dishes have included home made tortelli filled with prawns and broccoli in cardoon stock, ravioli with rabbit and potato in cheese fondue, guinea fowl with foie gras, artichokes, and walnut sauce, and crème brulee with tobacco sauce. The forty-bottle wine list has been meticulously researched to present the most intriguing of Italian wines, representing every region. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Mon - Thu 7:30pm - 11:30pmFri - Sat 7:30pm - 12am Sun: closed all day [moreless]

(256 Via Merulana in Rome, Italy)

Scoglio di Frisio is a Neapolitan restaurant founded in Rome in 1928 and now run by a new generation... of the same family. The décor is almost unchanged in all its Art Deco brilliance, with a maritime-themed grotto in honour of the restaurant’s excellent seafood. There are classic Neapolitan pizzas, of course, as big as your place, as well as hand-cut pastas made in a bronze press, fresh catch of the day, and classic meat dishes. Strolling musicians serenade you with O Sole Mio and other traditional tunes. You’ll feel as if you’re in an Audrey Hepburn movie. Native Romans love Scoglio di Frisio as much as the tourists do, so it’s always full. Because of its central location and charming staff, is also ideal for group meals or informal private events. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required to reserve a table, if there is availability for bookings of 10 people or over - this is simply to secure your booking, absolutely no money will be charged to the card except in the case of late cancellations. A fee of €25 per person will be charged for a cancellation within 2 days or for a no show Opening hours: Mon - Sun 12pm - 3pm & 7pm - 11pm [moreless]