Retrobottega
On Retrobottega's new rooftop above Via del Velabro, Alessandro Miocchi cooks Sabotage, a blind run of off-menu sharing plates built from forays into the San Teodoro market below.
Why go
Miocchi and Giuseppe Lo Iudice both cooked for Anthony Genovese at Il Pagliaccio, then a two-star MICHELIN kitchen, before they opened Retrobottega near Piazza Navona at the end of 2015 (Scatti di Gusto). Miocchi had also cooked for Enrico Crippa and Antonio Guida. Every week he forages herbs, roots and wild fruit in the woods of Lazio and Abruzzo for the kitchen (Identità Golose). Gabriele Gervasi, chef de cuisine of Il Ristorante Niko Romito at the Bvlgari, told The Relisher in October 2026 that the kitchen works a lot with vegetables, wild herbs, and there are no signature dishes.
He orders the vegetables: an eggplant, for example, might be prepared completely differently from one visit to the next depending on what is in season.
He goes at dinner because the cooking is lighter than at many traditional Roman restaurants
(The Relisher).
Antonella De Santis of Gambero Rosso ate on the new rooftop in June 2026. She called Sabotage the happiest formula for living this Retrobottega in full, because it gives back the atmosphere of the kitchen
(Gambero Rosso). Miocchi improvises at the pass while Lo Iudice runs the room. Her squid with citron was cooked firmly enough to give it structure and bite, in a tense sauce that distantly recalls the edges of a home-grown kimchi
(Gambero Rosso). The carta keeps the wild garlic risotto with pumpkin seeds and capers from the old room and a Katsu Sando that now swaps the meat for barbecued carrots, cheddar and romesco. The reviewer from zero.eu found the lacquered duck crisp and perfectly cooked
and called the desserts exceptional, above all the pear wrapped in a cloud of zabaione and hibiscus
(zero.eu).
In the old room, Miocchi priced the vegetable menu the same as the meat menu as a provocation. His goal, he told Rachel Kent of Italy Segreta in 2022, was to make diners understand that vegetables can satisfy you
(Italy Segreta). De Santis wrote in June 2026: For some reason Retrobottega divides people. That is a virtue, to be clear
(Gambero Rosso).
In April 2026 Miocchi and Lo Iudice left a windowless room in the old city for the fifth floor of rhinoceros, the Jean Nouvel building of the Fondazione Alda Fendi. An all-day bar beside the restaurant pours Nudo coffee and makes toasts, tramezzini and a pastrami sandwich. De Santis wrote that the sunset from the terrace is worth the trip
(Gambero Rosso).
Order this / avoid
- Order: Sabotage, De Santis's pick in June 2026.1
- Order: the day's vegetable dishes, Gervasi's order (2026).2
- Order: the lacquered duck, from zero.eu's rooftop dinner (2026).3
- Order: the pear with zabaione and hibiscus, zero.eu's favorite dessert (2026).3
What locals & experts say
- Tiziano Palucci, chef of Barred (Gambero Rosso, 2022): he named Retrobottega one of
three unmissable addresses
in Rome, in the old room.8 - The MICHELIN Guide (April 2026):
It's basically a culinary innovation lab where the ever-rotating menu keeps things interesting while relying on traditional Roman ingredients foraged by the two chef-owners.
7
Good to know
- Where: Via del Velabro 9, top floor of the rhinoceros building. The old address at Via della Stelletta 4 near Piazza Navona is no longer Retrobottega.
- Booking: on the terrace side only some tables can be booked (zero.eu, 2026).
- When: the bar side runs from breakfast until late, and the restaurant side serves dinner.
Verdict
should-visit — Book dinner on the Fendi rooftop above the Velabro and let Alessandro Miocchi cook the blind sharing menu. He forages in Lazio and Abruzzo every week, and the vegetable plates are what Gabriele Gervasi of Il Ristorante Niko Romito comes for. Ask the price and the closing day when you book, since the room is new.