Lux Lucis

Lux Lucis sits on the rooftop of the Hotel Principe Forte dei Marmi, on Viale Ammiraglio Morin, and the room is built around its light: glass on every side, the marble-quarried Apuan Alps rising to the east and the open Tyrrhenian to the west, the whole place catching the gold of the evening it is named for. Twenty-four seats, a terrace for the warm months, and one Michelin star held since 2017, under chef Valentino Cassanelli.

Cassanelli arrived at the Principe in February 2012 and opened Lux Lucis within three months; the kitchen took its star in the 2017 Italian guide. His cooking is a loose, confident reading of Italian coastal cuisine, often built outward from a wine in concert with maître sommelier Sokol Ndreko. The signatures lean to the sea: red mullet with maritime pine, finished with seaweed, pine nuts and sea water, and a seared tuna belly with lemongrass, unripe grapes and quinoa that has held its place on the menu for years. The spaghettoni with anchovies and burrata water shows the same restraint.

The wine programme is run by maître sommelier Sokol Ndreko, with a Tuscan-coast spine: Vermentino from the Versilia, the Bolgheri estates down the road, and a tight Champagne section. Many dishes are profiled to a glass first, so a pairing flight is the natural way to follow the kitchen's logic.

The glass-walled dining room seats twenty-four, with a rooftop terrace that opens for the warm months and gives the village its most view-driven table. Service is hotel-grade: uniformed captains, exact pacing, plates that land together. The lighting is low and warm, the spacing generous, and the volume stays at conversation pitch — a room engineered for two people to linger. Most guests are staying in the Principe below, which makes the long, late dinner easy to lean into.

Lux Lucis is the impress-the-client room when the brief is contemporary rather than institutional. The Michelin star answers the credibility question; the seventh-floor rooftop with the Apuan Alps view is the conversation; the kitchen's modern Italian register is genuinely distinctive against the village's more traditional rooms. Book a corner table on the rooftop terrace at sunset and ask sommelier Sokol Ndreko for a Bolgheri pairing.

Not for a quick coastal lunch or a barefoot beach-club crowd: this is a jacket-elegant rooftop with a multi-course tasting and an unhurried pace, best from about 8pm. Skip the terrace, too, if the weather is doubtful — the view is the whole argument outdoors, and a grey evening is better spent in the glass-walled room than on the open roof.

Is Lux Lucis worth it? Yes, for the setting as much as the plate. Valentino Cassanelli has held one Michelin star since 2017, and his sea-leaning cooking — red mullet with maritime pine, the long-running seared tuna belly with lemongrass and quinoa — is genuinely distinctive on this stretch of coast. Tasting menus run €130 to €190. You are paying for a rooftop over the Apuan Alps and the Tyrrhenian at sunset, and on a clear evening it earns it.

How do I book Lux Lucis, and when? Reserve three to five weeks ahead through the Hotel Principe Forte dei Marmi, and earlier in July and August when the Versilia coast fills. Ask specifically for a terrace table at sunset, since the indoor and rooftop seating are very different experiences. If you are marking an anniversary or a proposal, tell the floor team in advance so the timing and the wine can be set for the moment.

What should I order at Lux Lucis? Take a tasting menu — there are three, at five, seven and nine courses — rather than piecing together à la carte, and look for the red mullet with maritime pine and the seared tuna belly with lemongrass, unripe grapes and quinoa, both Cassanelli signatures. Lean on sommelier Sokol Ndreko for the pairing; many dishes are built around a wine first, so the flight follows the kitchen's own thinking.

What is the dress code at Lux Lucis? Smart elegant. This is a one-star rooftop inside a five-star hotel, so leave the beachwear at the lido and dress as you would for a special dinner — a jacket for men is a safe call, particularly on the terrace at sunset. Most guests are staying in the hotel and dress for the occasion, and the room rewards the effort.