Acquolina

Why it is on the list

Acquolina holds two Michelin stars in the 2025 and the 2026 Michelin Guide for Italy; only La Pergola holds more in Rome.¹ The second star came in 2022, three years after Daniele Lippi took over the kitchen; he spent nine years at Il Convivio under the Troiani brothers and cooked at Pavillon Ledoyen, Piazza Duomo, Alinea and Lasarte.² His cooking puts meat and fish in the same course: sweetbread with mantis shrimp, pigeon with a red mullet salmì.²³ The cellar holds Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence.⁴ The room is on the ground floor of The First Arte, a 26-room hotel in a nineteenth-century palace between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps.⁵

It is the wrong table for a vegetarian or vegan: there is no such menu, and the kitchen adapts only for gluten or lactose.⁶ It is also the wrong table for children under ten.⁶ For Rome's one three-star kitchen, take La Pergola instead.¹

How to get it

Book online through the restaurant's reservations page; it takes no bookings by phone.⁷ Choose the menu when booking: Periplo at EUR 160, or Anabasi Catabasi at EUR 200, with wine pairing EUR 240 and EUR 280; the tasting menu is made for the whole table.³ Payment in advance by credit card secures the table and is taken off the bill; it is forfeited on a cancellation, a change in numbers or a no-show outside the booking terms.⁶ Cancel or change by replying to the confirmation email or writing to info@acquolinaristorante.it, never by phone; a change of menu has to reach the restaurant by email the day before.⁶ Gluten or lactose needs go in at booking.⁶ Tables are seated Tuesday to Saturday, 19:00 to 21:00; the restaurant is closed Sunday, Monday and from 3 to 31 August, and answers email Monday to Friday, 10:00 to 18:00.⁷ The dress code is smart casual: no shorts, open shoes or sportswear for men, no flip-flops or sportswear for women.⁶

Discretion

Acquolina is on the ground floor of The First Arte at Via del Vantaggio 14, a short walk from Piazza del Popolo and Via del Corso.⁷⁵ Guests are ten or older and animals are not admitted.⁶