Villa Laetitia is owned by Anna Fendi Venturini, daughter of the founder of the Fendi fashion house. It is a turn-of-the-century villa on the Lungotevere delle Armi — the road that runs alongside the Tiber north of Castel Sant'Angelo — a building of Renaissance and Baroque architecture that has been transformed into a hotel of barely twenty rooms and one of Rome's most extraordinary restaurants. The setting alone justifies the journey. But the cooking is the argument that keeps you returning.
Chef Domenico Stile arrived here from a lineage of serious kitchens — stages and influences that include the great modernist laboratories of Italy and Spain — but his cooking is anchored in the flavours of Campania, the southern Italian region where he was born. He works with volcanic-soil tomatoes from the slopes of Vesuvius. He builds sauces from the mineral waters of his native region. He reconstructs the traditional dishes of Naples with the technical vocabulary of contemporary fine dining, and the results are original without feeling cold — complex without losing the memory of home.
The dining room occupies the rear of the villa: stucco columns, ornate ceilings, splendid windows looking out onto the private garden. It is one of the most beautiful rooms in Rome — the kind of space that makes you lower your voice instinctively, that imposes a quality of attention on the meal. The wine list is extensive, with particular depth in Italian labels. The service is attentive without being intrusive: the team understands that the architecture and the food should do the heavy lifting, and steps back accordingly.
Enoteca La Torre received its second Michelin star in 2024, confirmation of what regular diners had known for years: this is one of Rome's most important restaurants, a place where room, food, and service cohere into something genuinely exceptional.