Escape Venice's crowds: A private island, fine dining and pure serenity

I ask a friend in the know where I can escape the crowds to find exquisite cuisine and timeless elegance in the city once known as La Serenissima, the Most Serene. The Kempinski hotel is a dream, she says. Off I go. It takes just 10 minutes by complimentary boat transfer to escape the hectic scrum of Piazza San Marco and enter another world. San Clemente Palace Kempinski Venice is a luxury hotel on a private island with spectacular views of the Venetian Lagoon, views that we can assume were at one time enjoyed by 15th-century monks who lived in pious contemplation here. An incredibly well-preserved church still stands.

The hotel's signature restaurant, Acquerello, was named the Best Italian Restaurant in Europe in the Haute Grandeur awards, beating some illustrious competition to the gong. Modern Venetian cuisine and traditional Italian flavours are the order of the day. The meal begins with butter-grilled scallops and a plate of fresh, local asparagus drizzled with mimosa sauce and an anchovy reduction. One bite of the tender scallops and I already know this is a meal I'll never forget. Next, tough choices must be made between the risotto with goat's cheese, linguine with razor clams or a red-shrimp tagliolini doused in shellfish bisque and herring caviar. The bisque seals the deal. I mop up every last drop of the sauce with pillowy chunks of bread.

Read more on Explore:

It takes a pinch of persuasion by the waiter for me to order Secondi, a main course. Will it be turbot, grilled seabass, veal scallopini or beef fillet with guanciale and Bearnaise sauce? Such indulgence and hedonism. I can only imagine what the monks would say. kempinski.com