Beef sliced paper-thin, served raw with a mustard-mayonnaise drizzle. Invented at Harry's Bar in 1950 and now a global classic.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
Carpaccio was invented at Harry's Bar on Calle Vallaresso in 1950 by Giuseppe Cipriani for the Countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo, who was on a doctor-ordered raw-meat diet. Cipriani sliced the beef paper-thin and topped it with a Worcestershire-and-mustard mayonnaise drizzle in geometric pattern. He named it after the 16th-century Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio, whose retrospective at the Palazzo Ducale was running that same year, because of the resemblance between the red beef and the painter's signature reds. The dish is now globally codified and still served the same way at Harry's Bar.
Common allergens: Egg, Mustard
Tip from the editors. The beef must be very fresh and butcher-grade; raw meat from supermarket pre-pack is not safe for carpaccio.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Harry's Bar on Calle Vallaresso serves the canonical Cipriani-style brunch with Bellini, carpaccio and risotto, the historic-bar lunch since 1931 near San Marco.
Order: Bellini, beef carpaccio, risotto alla primavera
Tip: The downstairs bar takes walk-ins and works for a Bellini at EUR 22. The upstairs dining room needs a booking through OpenTable.
Bistrot de Venise near San Marco runs the only Renaissance-recipes lunch carte in Venice, with 14th-century Anonimo Veneziano dishes for a fascinating brunch alternative.
Order: Renaissance saor of sole, medieval risi e bisi
Tip: The historic-tasting carte needs 48 hours' notice. Lunch service runs 12:00 to 15:00.
Met Restaurant inside Hotel Metropole on the Riva degli Schiavoni is the dark-room formal restaurant near San Marco serving a Venetian tasting carte with modern technique.
Bar Longhi inside The Gritti Palace on Campo Santa Maria del Giglio is the Murano-lamp bar with the Pietro Longhi 18th-century paintings, the canonical Grand Canal cocktail terrace.
Signature drink: Bellini Longhi, Negroni at the Gritti
Food: Bar snacks, the Gritti's afternoon tea
Tip: The patio with the Grand Canal view runs spring through autumn. Cocktails start around EUR 22; the Longhi Bellini variant is the move.
Locanda Cipriani on Torcello is the 1934-founded Cipriani-family lagoon outpost that Hemingway used for lunch, the canonical garden-restaurant on the silent island.
Signature: Risotto alla torcellana, Carpaccio Cipriani, Filetti di San Pietro
Order: Risotto alla torcellana, carpaccio Cipriani, the daily fish baked in the garden's wood oven.
Tip: Closed Tuesdays and the whole of January. Ferry 12 from Fondamente Nove, 45 minutes. Book outdoor garden tables when you reserve.
More cities are in research. Want carpaccio (alla cipriani) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.