The art of hosting in Venice since 1879
Seven generations of cooking and pastry, in the service of the events the city remembers.
A silent house, a celebration full of voices, silence once more
Our craft lies entirely in between. A silent palazzo, a shuttered villa, an empty garden: for one event they become a kitchen, a dining room, a reception, and then they return exactly as we found them.
Every banquet is a story of its own. Every venue has its constraints and its advantages, every event its requirements: everything has to be anticipated, and then a little more. In Venice the constraints are harder than anywhere else, and in almost a hundred and fifty years they have left us with a body of experience that cannot be learned anywhere.
Invisible logistics and age-old gestures.
The room is half the story
Mise en place, lighting and flowers: every setup is designed around the venue and the client's wishes, not taken from a catalog.
Every event has its own rules
Five different settings, each with its own priorities: what works for a wedding does not work for a summit.
Weddings
The most important day. We work from a script shared months in advance, with safety margins on everything: delays, changes of plan, the unexpected. You have to be able to adapt right up to the last moment.
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Institutional events
Rigor and discretion. Selected, vetted staff, timing aligned with protocol, a service that must never draw attention to itself. Experience at summits and meetings between heads of state.
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Conferences and corporate events
Large numbers and tight timing: coffee breaks, light lunches and gala dinners that have to fit within the conference schedule.
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Social events
Vernissages, gala parties, evenings built around art and theater. Here more than anywhere, visual impact counts: everything is stagecraft, and the service is part of it.
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Private parties
Homes, courtyards and private gardens: spaces never designed for catering. We work on tiptoe, adapting to the setting and respecting it.
Read moreHow a service comes together
Every event goes through the same stages. The timing, the scale and the degree of confidentiality change; the method does not.
- 01
The request
It starts with you: we work out what, how and where. Those who already have a clear idea find a listening ear; those who don't yet find suggestions, because we have seen a great many banquets.
- 02
The site visit
Everything is measured: access routes, room capacity, power outlets, space for the office. This is where we decide whether something is possible, or how to make it possible.
- 03
Menu and tastings
The menu grows out of the season and the venue. We listen to the client, offer our suggestions, then choose together.
- 04
Logistics
Transport, timing, organization: this is where everything is at stake. Transport and set-up crews, coordinated on a single schedule.
- 05
The service
Kitchen brigade and floor brigade timed to the minute, under a single direction. Timing, even more than recipes, is what sets a successful banquet apart.
- 06
Handing it back
The work does not end with the last guest. We dismantle, clean and put everything back where it was: whoever walks in the next day should notice nothing.
Age-old technique, contemporary touch
Seasonality and local produce as the rule, traditional Venetian and lagoon cooking as the root, modern technique as the tool.
The celebration, set to perfection
Imperial tables under the chandeliers, buffets in historic loggias, bespoke settings: a few shots from the banquets we have served.
Historic palazzi, foundations, museums, mainland villas
We know the constraints, the access points and the timing: often it is the venue itself that suggests the right service. We guide you in choosing the venue too, not only the menu.
In 1951 the banqueting of the Fondazione Cini, on the Isola di San Giorgio, was entrusted to the Rosa Salva family. Between 2013 and 2018 Rosa Salva ran the cafés and events of Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana for the Pinault group; since 2018 it has run the café of the Gran Teatro La Fenice, in the Sale Apollinee. Rosa Salva is a member of ANBC, the Associazione Nazionale Banqueting e Catering, which is part of FIPE-Confcommercio.
What you see is only the final result of the work
Tell us about the occasion
Event, date, venue, number of guests: that is where we start to build a tailored proposal.
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Prefer to write to us directly? catering@rosasalva.it · +39 041 5210544
Frequently asked questions
Where do you work?
We work in Venice and throughout Italy. In Venice we know the constraints, access points and timing of every kind of venue — historic palazzi, foundations, museums — and on the mainland we work in villas and private spaces. Lagoon logistics are the most delicate part, and the one where we have almost a hundred and fifty years of experience.
Do you also help us choose the venue?
Yes. Often it is the venue itself that suggests the right service, so we guide you in choosing the venue and not only the menu. If you already have a venue, the site visit tells us what can be done there: access, capacity, power outlets, space for the office.
Is the menu from a catalog, or built together?
It is built together. The menu grows out of the season and the venue: we listen to what you have in mind, offer our suggestions, then choose together. There is no list of ready-made menus to tick off.
Where do menu tastings take place?
In the tasting room in Calle Fiubera, upstairs at our historic headquarters in San Marco. It is a meeting room that, when needed, becomes the place for tastings with our catering clients, a few steps from the kitchen where the dishes are prepared.
How do we get a quote?
It starts with four pieces of information: what the event is, on what date, where, and for how many people. From there we make a site visit, build the menu and service proposal, and that is what we discuss. The quote comes after the site visit, not before: without having seen the venue it would be a number pulled out of thin air.
How many guests can you serve?
Rosa Salva Catering handles events of very different sizes, from private parties to conferences: the service is built around the number of guests, the venue and the schedule. In Venice it is lagoon logistics — transport, timing, access from the water — that dictate how everything is organised.
How much does catering in Venice cost?
The cost of a Rosa Salva catering service depends on the menu, the number of guests, the venue and the type of service: the figure is worked out after the site visit, and the starting point is the quote request form on this page.
How far in advance should you book?
It is best to write to us as soon as the date is set, so that there is time for the site visit, for drawing up the proposal and for the menu tastings.