National Gallery of Art

Release Date: June 16, 2006

"Summer in Venice" is Theme for Garden Café Venetian-Inspired Menu, June 13 through November 13, 2006

Washington, DC—"Summer in Venice" is the new theme for the National Gallery of Art’s Garden Café, in celebration of the major new international exhibition Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting, on view in the West Building from June 18 through September 17, 2006. Beginning June 13, visitors can dine on Venetian-inspired specialties including zucchini frittata, grilled calamari with pepperade, roasted guinea hen with black pepper sauce, beef carpaccio with arugula and tarragon dressing, goat cheese and tomato salad, soppressata and caprino sandwich, and fresh peach tart with peach sorbetto and fig syrup. The menu, developed by chef Thomas Marr of Restaurant Associates, features two signature dishes—grilled polenta diamonds and bigoli pasta with onion confit, anchovies, and garlic—created by renowned chef Fabrizio Aielli, who honed his culinary skills in Venice, Italy, and is the chef and owner of the Teatro Goldoni restaurant in Washington, DC.

The serene and verdant Garden Café, situated around a fountain enhanced by Girl with Water Lilies, a 1928 sculpture by Herbert Adams, is located on the ground floor of the West Building near the entrance at 6th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. The Café is open Monday through Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 4:00 p.m. A special concert menu of light fare is served on Sundays from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in conjunction with the free Sunday evening concerts that begin at 6:30 p.m. in the West Garden Court and continue through July 1, 2007. For more information about the Gallery and its restaurants, visit www.nga.gov.

Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

This exhibition is made possible by Bracco, an international leader in diagnostic imaging.

The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

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General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov. Follow the Gallery on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NationalGalleryofArt and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ngadc.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 by 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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