You know Lofoten. You just never knew Vicenza was part of the story.
DISCOVER THE STORY →Arctic cod and Vicenza’s most guarded recipe
The story in 30 seconds
CRETE · 1431 Querini sails for Flanders with wine, spices and 68 men. RØST · 1432 Shipwrecked above the Arctic Circle, he discovers cod dried in the Arctic wind. VENICE · 1432 He returns south with stockfish, bringing the Lofoten fish into Venetian territory. VICENZA Vicentine cooks make that stockfish their own: bacalà alla Vicentina, a recipe with more than four centuries of history. RØST + VICENZA · TODAY Røst and Sandrigo, in Vicenza, are twinned: ceremonies, shared tables, bacalà, and regular visits.
Where to eat it →The only recipe on an Italian stamp
Bacalà alla Vicentina is the first and only Italian stamp ever dedicated to a recipe
The Velvet brotherhood
Vicenza takes bacalà seriously enough to have a velvet-cloaked brotherhood for it. The name alone announces the pedigree, Venerabile Confraternita del Bacala alla Vicentina, and the wardrobe confirms it. Members wear brown and silver for the cod, yellow for polenta, and a fish medallion at the neck. Founded in Sandrigo in 1987, the Venerabile Confraternita protects the traditional recipe and cooking method.
Read the story →Live the Tradition
Brown and silver velvet, yellow mantles, fish medallions, drums, flag throwers and Norwegian guests. Find bacalà festivals, long-table dinners, restaurant tastings and public ceremonies across Vicenza.
Get the Restaurants Guide →GET THE GUIDE
EAT BEYOND THE OBVIOUS 2026
100+ places across Vicenza, from Slow Food standouts and Michelin kitchens to old osterie, wine estates, mountain dairies and addresses featured by National Geographic, The Guardian, Forbes and Decanter.
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