Restaurant in Forio, Italy
Serious plant-based tasting menus, island setting included.
Il Mirto at Forio's Botania hotel is Italy's strongest case for fine-dining plant-based cooking, with a Michelin Plate (2024, 2025), a 4.9 Google rating, and a tasting menu anchored by the hotel's own kitchen garden. Book if you want a structured, chef-led vegetarian or vegan experience on Ischia. Easy to reserve; the ferry from Naples is the real commitment.
Getting a table at Il Mirto is not the obstacle. The booking is easy compared to the effort of getting to Forio, on the island of Ischia, which requires a ferry from Naples and a drive across the island. That journey is the real commitment. If you are willing to make it, Il Mirto delivers something genuinely rare: a €€€€ tasting menu experience built entirely around vegetarian and vegan food, held inside the grounds of the Botania hotel, with a Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025 and a 4.9 Google rating across 44 reviews. The question is not whether the food is good. The question is whether you are the right diner for this specific experience.
Il Mirto sits within the Botania hotel's three hectares of Mediterranean garden. You are not just booking a restaurant table; you are booking entry to a property where the walk to the dining room is part of the meal. The kitchen garden and relationships with local Ischian growers form the backbone of the menu, which is structured around two long tasting menus (one vegetarian, one fully vegan) and a shorter four-course option that draws from the same kitchen. Chef Tommaso Luongo's cooking has been described in Michelin documentation as technically accomplished and creative, with dishes like "Bouquet of Flowers" and "Recycled Plastic" cited specifically as highlights worth ordering. The service comes from young, attentive staff who handle a fine-dining format without the stiffness that can make €€€€ rooms feel oppressive.
For the explorer-minded diner who travels specifically to eat and wants context alongside the food, the setting does real work here. The scent of the surrounding garden reaches the dining room, and the visual coherence between the food's provenance and its environment is not a marketing statement — it is something you can trace from plate to garden bed. This is plant-based cooking that does not ask for your indulgence; it operates at a level where technique and sourcing are the argument.
Two long menus or a four-course version: your choice depends on appetite and how long you want to sit. The four-course option is drawn from the same menus, so you are not getting lesser food, just less of it. At €€€€ pricing, even the shorter format represents a significant spend per head by Ischia standards. If you are comparing against the island's other fine-dining options, the tasting format at Il Mirto is a different proposition from the seafood-led rooms at Umberto a Mare or Il Saturnino. Those are excellent restaurants for what they do. Il Mirto is the choice when the meal itself is the destination and you want a structured, chef-led experience rather than à la carte flexibility.
Compared to Italy's broader fine-dining circuit, venues like Osteria Francescana in Modena, Le Calandre in Rubano, or Piazza Duomo in Alba carry heavier Michelin credentials and require longer lead times to book. Il Mirto sits at a different point on that curve: the cooking is Michelin-recognised, the booking is accessible, and the island setting adds an irreplaceable layer of context. If you are building an Italy fine-dining itinerary and want to include a plant-based option without flying to Shanghai's Fu He Hui or Beijing's Lamdre, Il Mirto is the strongest case Italy makes in this category.
The Botania hotel setting shapes the group experience significantly. Unlike a standalone city restaurant where a large table can feel disconnected from the room, the hotel grounds give groups a physical space to gather before and after the meal. The garden walk and the broader property create a natural arc to an evening, which makes Il Mirto work well for celebratory dinners, anniversaries, or small group trips where the meal is the centrepiece of the stay. Young staff who handle the service with warmth rather than formality also help larger tables relax into the format. If you are organising a group occasion and want the setting to carry weight alongside the food, the Botania context does that work without requiring a private dining room booking. For Italy fine-dining comparisons in the hotel-restaurant format, Dal Pescatore in Runate and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico offer points of reference for how a destination property can anchor a meal in its landscape.
Book Il Mirto if: you are already coming to Ischia, you eat vegetarian or vegan and want a meal that does not treat that as a constraint, or you are a food-focused traveller who wants a tasting menu experience outside the usual northern Italy circuit. Skip it if: you need seafood to feel like Ischia is delivering on its setting, you want à la carte flexibility, or €€€€ pricing for plant-based food feels like a hard sell without Michelin star validation above the Plate level.
For the full picture of what Forio offers across restaurants, hotels, and more, see our full Forio restaurants guide, our full Forio hotels guide, our full Forio bars guide, our full Forio wineries guide, and our full Forio experiences guide. For broader Italy fine-dining context, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Enrico Bartolini in Milan, and Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone are worth knowing.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Il Mirto | Vegetarian | €€€€ | When you arrive at the luxury Botania hotel, you’ll be accompanied through 3ha grounds of lush Mediterranean vegetation to the restaurant. You couldn’t have a better introduction to the cuisine that awaits at Il Mirto, where you can choose between two long tasting menus or a shorter four-course option featuring dishes from these menus. One of the menus is vegetarian, the other vegan and almost all the vegetables are sourced from the property’s own kitchen garden or from other local growers from Ischia. A delightful experience in a beautiful natural setting, with excellent service provided by young, friendly staff.; On Ischia, a beautiful island facing the city of Naples and surrounded by crystal clear sea, is Mirto. This is a completely vegetarian restaurant and offers two 100% pure plant menus. The very talented chef, Tommaso Luongo, masters an enviable technique. The dishes are delicious and creative. A meal at Il Mirto restaurant is one of the best 100% pure plant experiences you can have in Italy. We absolutely recommend trying the dish "Bouquet of Flowers" and "Recycled Plastic." The restaurant is nestled in the beautiful grounds of the Botania relais, which offers beautiful views of the sea.; On Ischia, a beautiful island facing the city of Naples and surrounded by crystal clear sea, is Mirto. This is a completely vegetarian restaurant and offers two 100% pure plant menus. The very talented chef, Tommaso Luongo, masters an enviable technique. The dishes are delicious and creative. A meal at Il Mirto restaurant is one of the best 100% pure plant experiences you can have in Italy. We absolutely recommend trying the dish "Bouquet of Flowers" and "Recycled Plastic." The restaurant is nestled in the beautiful grounds of the Botania relais, which offers beautiful views of the sea.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Il Saturnino | Seafood | €€ | Unknown | — | |
| Umberto a Mare | Seafood | €€€ | Unknown | — | |
| Lisola Restaurant | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Forio for this tier.
Yes, if plant-based cooking is your focus. Il Mirto holds a Michelin Plate (2024 and 2025) and offers two long tasting menus plus a shorter four-course option, all built around vegetables from the property's own kitchen garden and local Ischia growers. At €€€€ pricing, you are paying for technique and setting, not just produce. If you want a shorter commitment, the four-course option pulls from the same kitchen and is the lower-risk entry point.
The venue data does not confirm a bar-dining option at Il Mirto. The restaurant sits within the Botania hotel's garden grounds, and the format is structured around tasting menus rather than casual counter service. Contact the Botania hotel directly to confirm seating formats before assuming flexibility.
Better than almost any comparable restaurant in Italy. The entire menu is vegetarian, and one of the two long tasting menus is fully vegan. Sourcing is hyperlocal, with nearly all vegetables grown on the Botania property or by local Ischia producers. If you eat plant-based, this is the format rather than an accommodation.
Umberto a Mare is the most-cited alternative on Ischia for a special-occasion seafood meal with comparable views. Il Saturnino offers a different register, leaning into traditional Ischian cooking. Neither matches Il Mirto's plant-based depth or Michelin recognition, so the comparison only holds if your priority shifts from vegetable-forward tasting menus to seafood or regional classics.
Yes, and the setting does a lot of the work. Being guided through three hectares of Mediterranean garden at the Botania hotel before sitting down to a Michelin-recognised tasting menu is a clear occasion-dining format. The service is described as friendly rather than stiff, which helps. Book the longer menu if the occasion warrants a full evening.
The restaurant is inside the Botania hotel in Forio, not a standalone address, so factor in the logistics of getting to Ischia by ferry from Naples before you book. Once there, you are choosing between two long plant-based tasting menus or a four-course version. Dishes flagged by Michelin inspectors include 'Bouquet of Flowers' and 'Recycled Plastic', which signal the kitchen's creative direction. At €€€€, this is a considered booking, not a casual dinner stop.
At €€€€, it is a premium spend, but the value case is stronger here than at many city restaurants at the same price point. You get Michelin Plate recognition two years running, produce grown steps from the kitchen, a garden setting most urban tasting menus cannot replicate, and a format that treats plant-based cooking as the main event rather than a compromise. If you are already on Ischia, the price-to-experience ratio is favourable. If you are travelling specifically for this meal, factor in the ferry crossing and overnight stay as part of the total cost.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
