Restaurant Report: Venissa, on Isola di Mazzorbo, Italy

But your ultimate port of call is the small, sparsely populated island of Mazzorbo, where a pile of unremarkable homes and an ancient walled vineyard, the Venissa Estate, are almost entirely overlooked by even some of the most ambitious tourists. Mr. Bisol spent the last decade restoring the estate, which is designated as an Italian Natural Environment Park; he opened the restaurant in 2010. But his greatest act of reclamation may be his restoration of the Dorona grape, a Venetian varietal that ceased to be cultivated in the lagoon 600 years ago. Today it grows in perfectly trained rows inside the estate’s medieval walls. “The lagoon is my second home by the sea,” said Mr. Bisol, a descendant of an illustrious family of vintners who have been making wines and prosecco in the Italian province of Treviso since 1542. “It’s important to us to reclaim arable land, conserve history and create employment opportunities for people here.” At the helm of Venissa’s kitchen is Paola Budel, who relies on all things local: produce from the estate’s vast vegetable gardens; lagoon fish like eels, mullet and crabs stocked in their nearby fish farm; and oysters culled from beds on the neighboring beach. “We pay homage to cuisine from the lagoon and the Veneto,” Mr. Bisol said. “We get honey from the nearby Island of Sant’Erasmo and langoustines and salicornia seaweed right from the lagoon.” This emphasis is immediately evident on the menu. During a recent lunch, I had an unctuous starter of crumb-crusted, pan-fried lagoon eel with a cream and broccoli sauce, then a steaming bowl of nutty kamut spaghetti with fresh lagoon anchovies and sautéed wild spring onions, foraged that morning. The main course was a thin veal cutlet, breaded and pan-fried until golden, with a tangy artichoke cream. In between courses, and before the cheeses and coffee arrived, there were liberal pours of Crede Bisol prosecco and Zenato Ripassa Valpolicella, two excellent regional tipples that punctuate Mr. Bisol’s commitment to all things Veneto. Venissa, Fondamenta Santa Caterina, 3, Isola di Mazzorbo; (39-041) 52-72-281; venissa.it. A three-course meal for two, without drinks and tip, is about 85 euros, $118 at $1.40 to the euro. Open March through November for breakfast, lunch and dinner.