An Italian Garden, a Napoleonic Past and Spring Dining in Vicenza

ABOUT

There is rather more to this Italian villa than its elegant garden and guest rooms.

Villa Ca’ Sette was built towards the end of the eighteenth century as a summer residence for the noble Venetian Golini Sette family. According to the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, the house accommodated Napoleonic troops during the military campaign of 1796.

Today, the historic residence in Bassano del Grappa, a town in northern Vicenza province, combines a small hotel with Ristorante Ca’7, whose dining rooms preserve parts of the building’s past. [1]

Choose the vaulted room that once served as the villa’s cellar, the intimate fireplace room or, in warmer weather, a table on the portico or garden veranda.

Outside is an Italian garden of approximately 6,000 square metres, with olive trees, lawns and a pond. The villa also has a Sala Napoleone, a room with frescoed ceilings used for private gatherings. [2][3]

The restaurant has been part of Vicenza's gastronomic life for more than half a century. Chef Alex Lorenzon, at the helm since 2004 according to the 2026 asparagus festival programme, brings a contemporary sensibility to the local produce, with particular attention to vegetables, seafood and seasonal ingredients. [4]

Spring is a particularly good reason to visit.

For its 2026 menu, Ca’7 offered an eight course tasting dedicated to white asparagus from the province of Vicenza. Among the dishes were raw and marinated asparagus with crispy guanciale, fried asparagus with tartar sauce, an egg preparation with almonds and bottarga, fettuccine with guanciale and raspberry, and asparagus risotto finished with an egg mimosa.

The traditional Asparagi e uova all’uso de Bassan appeared before dessert. The tasting was priced at €80 per person, with a minimum reservation of two guests. [5]

There is a contemporary international side to the kitchen, too. The same spring 2026 menu included Japanese chawanmushi with sea urchins and raw shellfish in its seafood tasting, alongside prawn gyoza on the à la carte menu. [5]

A fitting detail for a restaurant that had already appeared in the Japanese culinary magazine Ryori Tsushin in 2016, in an article about Vicenza's celebrated white asparagus and its long history of exports to Japan. [6]

The wine deserves attention as well. Ca’7 offers a list of more than 200 labels, with a family connection to Vigneto Due Santi, the estate founded by the Zonta family in 1965. Its vineyards and olive groves occupy the hills of the Vicenza area, with Cabernet and Merlot among the wines produced there. [3][7]

WHY GO

For a long Italian lunch in a Venetian villa, with an old garden, contemporary cooking, a serious cellar and the possibility of spending the night in the same historic house.

April and May bring the added pleasure of Vicenza’s white asparagus season.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

Restaurant: Ristorante Ca’7 at Villa Ca’ Sette

Where: Via Cunizza da Romano 4, Bassano del Grappa, province of Vicenza, Italy

Phone: +39 0424 383350

Email: info@ca-sette.it

Dining: Lunch and dinner. The published schedule lists Monday and Sunday evening as closing times, with lunch from 12:30 to 14:00 and dinner from 20:00 to 22:00.

Best season for white asparagus: April and May. The eight course tasting described above refers to spring 2026, so confirm the following season's menu when reserving.

Also worth knowing: The villa has guest rooms, a garden veranda, private dining areas and spaces for small gatherings and events.