Restaurant in Matera, Italy
Three menus, Michelin-recognised, easy to book.
A Michelin Plate-recognised restaurant inside a restored Matera palazzo, Dimora Ulmo runs three distinct tasting menus rooted in Basilicatan cuisine with modern inflection. At €€€, it sits between the city's casual regional spots and its one top-tier splurge, with a summer terrace overlooking the Sassi that gives it genuine occasion weight. Booking is straightforward — plan ahead for terrace seating in peak season.
Expect to spend in the €€€ range at Dimora Ulmo, which puts it squarely in the mid-to-upper tier for Matera — above neighbourhood trattorie like DA MÓ and Baccanti, and a price point below the €€€€ of Vitantonio Lombardo. For that spend, you get three distinct tasting menu options, a dining room inside a restored palazzo, a summer terrace overlooking the Sassi, and a Michelin Plate recognition that has held for at least two consecutive years (2024 and 2025). If you are visiting Matera for a special occasion and want a structured, multi-course experience that roots itself in Basilicata's culinary tradition without ignoring modern technique, this is the most credible option at this price point.
The building itself is a restored palazzo on Via Pennino, and the physical setting is one of the strongest reasons to book here over a comparable restaurant elsewhere in the city. The dining room is described by Michelin as equally attractive as the terrace, which is notable , many Sassi-area restaurants lean so heavily on outdoor views that the interior feels like an afterthought. At Dimora Ulmo, the indoor room holds its own, making this a year-round option rather than a venue that only works in summer. The summer terrace, when it is open, offers a direct view over the Sassi , Matera's ancient cave district and a UNESCO World Heritage Site , which adds genuine occasion weight for a celebratory dinner. For a date or a milestone meal, the spatial combination of a historically grounded interior and a terrace with that outlook is hard to match in Matera's dining room at this tier. For more options across the city, see our full Matera restaurants guide.
The kitchen runs three tasting menus: Contaminazioni, Dimora Ulmo, and A mano libera. The Michelin description frames all three around a balance of modern cuisine and traditional local dishes, with Basilicatan cuisine as the anchor. The name Contaminazioni (contaminations) signals a menu that reaches beyond the region , expect influences from elsewhere in Italy or further afield folded into a local base. The Dimora Ulmo menu is presumably the house signature, grounded most closely in the restaurant's own identity. A mano libera translates roughly as "freehand" or "free rein," which typically signals a chef's tasting format with less prescribed structure. If you are planning two or three visits to Matera, this three-menu structure gives Dimora Ulmo genuine multi-visit utility , you can work through different menus on separate evenings rather than repeating the same experience. This is relatively rare at restaurants in this tier in smaller Italian cities, where a single tasting menu is the norm.
If Matera is more than a one-night stop for you, Dimora Ulmo is worth anchoring two separate evenings around different menus. A practical approach: open with Contaminazioni to get a sense of how the kitchen works with influences outside the region, then return for A mano libera to see what the kitchen chooses when given full latitude. The Dimora Ulmo menu sits leading as a standalone introduction if you only have one visit. For the surrounding context, pair restaurant evenings with lunch stops at La Lopa or ARTEMA, which operate at different price points and formats. Basilicata's regional cuisine is also explored at Al Becco della Civetta in Castelmezzano and Da Peppe in Rotonda if you are travelling more broadly through the region.
The list prioritises Basilicatan producers , a region whose wines, particularly Aglianico del Vulture, are still underexposed relative to their quality , alongside a broader Italian selection and some international labels. For a tasting menu dinner in this price range, a wine-focused approach to Basilicata makes the pairing more interesting than a generic Italian list would. If you are travelling with a particular interest in southern Italian wine, this is worth noting as a positive differentiator. For more wine context in the region, see our full Matera wineries guide.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. Dimora Ulmo does not appear to operate under the kind of demand pressure that requires weeks of advance planning, unlike busier fine dining destinations such as Osteria Francescana in Modena or Uliassi in Senigallia. That said, Matera sees significant seasonal tourist volume, and the terrace tables during summer will fill ahead of indoor seats. If your dates are fixed and the terrace view matters to you, book ahead rather than assuming availability. For context on what else to do around a dinner here, see our full Matera experiences guide, our full Matera hotels guide, and our full Matera bars guide.
Reservations: Book ahead, especially for summer terrace. Dress: Smart casual at minimum given the palazzo setting and tasting menu format. Budget: €€€ , plan for tasting menu pricing plus wine pairing. Leading for: Couples, special occasions, multi-night Matera stays where you want a structured dinner anchor.
See the comparison section below for how Dimora Ulmo positions against Matera's other main options.
If Dimora Ulmo represents the kind of regional tasting menu format that appeals to you, the broader southern Italian circuit is worth knowing. Reale in Castel di Sangro and Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone operate in a similar register , regional anchoring with modern technique , but at higher accolade levels. For the northern Italian benchmark on what tasting menus rooted in place can achieve, Dal Pescatore in Runate and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico are the relevant reference points.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimora Ulmo | €€€ | Easy | — |
| Vitantonio Lombardo | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| DA MÓ | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Vetera Matera | Unknown | — | |
| Baccanti | €€ | Unknown | — |
| ARTEMA | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Yes — the format suits it well. A restored palazzo setting overlooking the Sassi, three distinct tasting menus, and Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 give it the substance to carry a celebration dinner. For Matera specifically, it sits at the top of the €€€ tier, which means it reads as a genuine occasion rather than an everyday choice. If you want a private room or a specific table on the summer terrace, check the venue's official channels in advance.
It works for solo diners — tasting menus are naturally single-portion formats, and booking difficulty is rated Easy, so last-minute solo reservations are more realistic here than at high-demand destination restaurants. The dining room in the palazzo and the summer terrace both offer enough atmosphere to make a solo meal feel considered rather than awkward. The wine list, which includes regional Basilicatan labels alongside broader Italian selection, also gives you something to engage with course by course.
Groups are feasible given the palazzo scale and easy booking rating, but tasting menus across three formats require the table to align on pace and menu choice. For groups of four or more, confirm directly with the venue whether a shared menu or a preferred section of the room can be arranged. Dimora Ulmo is at Via Pennino, 28 in Matera — direct contact via the restaurant is the most reliable route for group logistics.
The venue is a restored palazzo with a Michelin Plate and €€€ pricing, which points toward neat, considered dress rather than formal attire. Matera as a city trends relaxed even at the upper end of dining, but arriving in beachwear or very casual clothes would feel out of place here. Dress as you would for a serious dinner rather than a resort meal.
Vitantonio Lombardo is the ceiling for Matera dining — Michelin-starred and more technically ambitious, but harder to book and priced accordingly. Baccanti and Vetera Matera offer regional Basilicatan cooking at a lower price point if the tasting menu format isn't your preference. DA MÓ sits below Dimora Ulmo in price and formality and works well for a neighbourhood dinner without the commitment of a multi-course menu. ARTEMA is worth considering if you want a shorter or more contemporary format.
Yes, if you're in Matera for more than one night and want to engage seriously with Basilicatan cuisine. Three menus — Contaminazioni, Dimora Ulmo, and A mano libera — give the kitchen room to move between modern technique and traditional regional dishes, which is more range than most comparable restaurants in the city offer. Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 confirms the cooking is operating at a consistent level. If you want a single dish rather than a structured progression, a trattoria like DA MÓ is a better fit.
At €€€, Dimora Ulmo is mid-to-upper tier for Matera — not cheap, but not at the ceiling either. What you get for that spend is a Michelin Plate kitchen running three distinct tasting menus, a wine list that includes underexposed Basilicatan producers like Aglianico del Vulture, and a palazzo setting with a summer terrace overlooking the Sassi. For the quality-to-price ratio in Matera specifically, it holds up better than the price point might suggest. Vitantonio Lombardo charges more and delivers a Michelin-starred experience; if that level of ambition matters, the premium is justified. If not, Dimora Ulmo is the stronger value play.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
