Restaurant in Positano, Italy
Book early. The setting earns its star.
Zass holds a 2025 Michelin Star inside Il San Pietro di Positano, one of the Amalfi Coast's most celebrated hotels. Chef Alois Vanlangenaeker has spent over 20 years refining a sea-forward, garden-led menu rooted in Campanian tradition. Rated 4.9 from over 1,600 reviews and ranked in the OAD Classical Europe top 300 — book well ahead for summer.
Yes — and not just because of the setting. Zass holds a 2025 Michelin Star and sits within Il San Pietro di Positano, a hotel that ranks among the most celebrated properties on the Amalfi Coast. But the restaurant earns its place on the basis of cooking, not location alone. Chef Alois Vanlangenaeker has been at the stoves here for over 20 years, delivering a menu grounded in Campanian tradition with measured creative additions — sea-forward, garden-led, and technically precise. Ranked #277 in the Opinionated About Dining Classical in Europe rankings in 2024 and climbing to #303 in 2025, it draws a discerning international crowd. With a Google rating of 4.9 from 1,643 reviews, it is one of the most consistently rated dining rooms in southern Italy. Book it. The question is when, and how to get the most out of it.
Zass is not a casual drop-in. The dining room is accessed via Il San Pietro di Positano's signature descent , skip the lift and walk down through the hotel's terraced gardens, past statues and open-air terraces, with the coastline spreading below. It is a spatial experience that frames the meal before you sit down. The room itself is formal but not stiff, with views over the Tyrrhenian Sea that make the setting genuinely hard to ignore. Tables are spaced generously, the service is measured, and the atmosphere runs closer to intimate occasion than festive evening. If you are after energy and noise, this is not your room , but if you want a dinner that feels considered from arrival to departure, few restaurants on the coast match it.
The menu leans heavily on the sea, drawing from Campanian waters and the hotel's own organic garden, which has become an increasingly visible presence in what lands on the plate. The kitchen's style starts in tradition , the meal opens with a freshly baked Margherita pizza, a grounding gesture before the cooking becomes more precise , and builds from there. The emblematic San Pietro dish is lemon-scented, served with buffalo yogurt potato puree, seasonal vegetables, and the kitchen's Champagne and truffle sauce. It is the kind of dish that explains why Vanlangenaeker has stayed this long.
If you are returning to Positano or planning more than one visit, Zass rewards a sequential approach. On a first visit, anchor around the set menu or the chef's signatures , the San Pietro dish in particular, and whatever the garden is offering that week. The Campanian spine of the cooking is most legible when you follow the menu's intended arc from the opening pizza through to the sea courses.
On a second visit, the smarter move is to push into the land side of the menu, which receives less attention than the seafood but reflects the organic garden more directly. Ask what is in season from the garden that week and let that guide your ordering. The kitchen's creative notes, the ones that sit on leading of the traditional Campanian base, are most visible in the mid-course dishes rather than the headline proteins , pay attention there.
A third visit, if you are based in Positano for an extended stay, is where the counter-programming strategy makes sense. Pair a lunch at Da Vincenzo or a casual evening at Chez Black with a return dinner at Zass specifically to chase the current menu rotation. The organic garden contribution shifts through the season, and the creative notes evolve , late summer and early autumn, when the garden is at its most productive and the summer crowds thin slightly, is the optimal window for serious eating here.
The Amalfi Coast's peak season runs from June through August. Zass is bookable during this period but requires significant advance planning , several weeks at minimum, and longer for weekend tables. The stronger argument is for late May or September into early October: the garden is producing, the light on the terrace is at its leading in the late evening, and the dining room is slightly less pressured. Midweek dinners in shoulder season give you the leading version of the service. If you are visiting the coast in July or August, book Zass the moment your travel dates are confirmed.
Within the Michelin-starred tier across Italy, Zass operates at the precise intersection of location and craft that is harder to find further north. Restaurants like Osteria Francescana in Modena, Le Calandre in Rubano, or Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence operate at higher technical complexity and broader critical ambition. Zass is not competing with that tier , it is doing something more specific: anchoring Mediterranean Campanian cooking to one of the most dramatically sited hotels in Europe, with a chef who has spent two decades refining that precise expression. For the Amalfi Coast context, nothing within easy reach matches it. For Mediterranean peers further west along the coast, the comparison is closer , but the garden-to-plate integration at Zass is its most distinctive differentiator.
Reservations: Book considerably in advance , several weeks for summer, ideally two or more months for July and August peak. Booking difficulty is rated easy outside peak season, tighter in summer. Dress code: Smart to formal; this is a Michelin-starred room inside a luxury hotel, and the dress expectation reflects that. Avoid shorts or beachwear. Budget: €€€€ , expect a meaningful per-head spend at the higher end of the Positano dining tier. Getting there: Via Laurito, 2 , Il San Pietro di Positano is accessible by road or boat from Positano town. The hotel's lift from the road is available but, as the kitchen team and hotel both advise, the descent on foot through the gardens is the better arrival.
For broader planning, see our full Positano restaurants guide, our full Positano hotels guide, our full Positano bars guide, our full Positano wineries guide, and our full Positano experiences guide.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zass | The legendary San Pietro hotel is one of the world's most celebrated, the jewel of Positano and the Amalfi Coast. Within its illustrious walls lies this restaurant whose tremendous success (book considerably in advance is advised), aside from its undoubtedly enchanting location, owes much to the expertise of Belgian Chef Alois Vanlangenaeker, who has been here for over 20 years. His cuisine harmoniously and elegantly narrates the strength, fragrances, and flavours of the Mediterranean, primarily using the Campanian language that remains pure in tradition as the meal begins with a freshly baked Margherita pizza, gradually enriched by pleasant creative notes within the dishes. The property's organic garden is increasingly making its presence felt in a menu of both land and, predominantly, sea-focused options. The emblematic San Pietro dish is a masterpiece, lemon scented and accompanied by buffalo yogurt potato puree, seasonal vegetables, and the house’s renowned Champagne and truffle sauce. Opting not to take the lift to the main hall is recommended—instead, treat yourself to a spectacular descent through gardens, statues, and mesmerizing vistas of one of Italy’s most famous hotels.; Opinionated About Dining Classical in Europe Ranked #303 (2025); HIGHLIGHTS: • 1 MICHELIN STAR 2025 • COOKING CLASSICS; The legendary San Pietro hotel is one of the world's most celebrated, the jewel of Positano and the Amalfi Coast. Within its illustrious walls lies this restaurant whose tremendous success (book considerably in advance is advised), aside from its undoubtedly enchanting location, owes much to the expertise of Belgian Chef Alois Vanlangenaeker, who has been here for over 20 years. His cuisine harmoniously and elegantly narrates the strength, fragrances, and flavours of the Mediterranean, primarily using the Campanian language that remains pure in tradition as the meal begins with a freshly baked Margherita pizza, gradually enriched by pleasant creative notes within the dishes. The property's organic garden is increasingly making its presence felt in a menu of both land and, predominantly, sea-focused options. The emblematic San Pietro dish is a masterpiece, lemon scented and accompanied by buffalo yogurt potato puree, seasonal vegetables, and the house’s renowned Champagne and truffle sauce. Opting not to take the lift to the main hall is recommended—instead, treat yourself to a spectacular descent through gardens, statues, and mesmerizing vistas of one of Italy’s most famous hotels.; Opinionated About Dining Classical in Europe Ranked #277 (2024); Michelin 1 Star (2024); Opinionated About Dining Classical in Europe Recommended (2023) | €€€€ | — |
| La Sponda | €€€€ | — | |
| Li Galli | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Chez Black | — | ||
| Al Palazzo | €€€ | — | |
| Da Vincenzo | €€ | — |
How Zass stacks up against the competition.
Yes, for what it delivers at €€€€. A 2025 Michelin Star, over 20 years of consistent cooking under Chef Alois Vanlangenaeker, and a setting within Il San Pietro di Positano that is hard to match on the Amalfi Coast all justify the spend. If you want starred Mediterranean cooking without the hotel spectacle, there are cheaper options further along the coast — but Zass combines location and craft in a way that few restaurants at this price point manage.
If you are committing to a full dinner at Zass, the structured menu is the format that best showcases Vanlangenaeker's approach: traditional Campanian foundations — starting with freshly baked Margherita pizza — building toward more creative dishes, with the emblematic San Pietro dish (lemon-scented, served with buffalo yogurt potato purée and Champagne-truffle sauce) as the reference point. The organic garden now plays a visible role in what arrives on the table, which gives the progression genuine coherence rather than showmanship.
Book considerably in advance — the venue's own guidance makes this explicit. For July and August, aim for two months or more. Shoulder season (May, June, September) requires several weeks at minimum. Zass is ranked #303 in Opinionated About Dining's Classical Europe list for 2025, which means demand from a well-informed international audience is consistent, not just seasonal.
Specific dietary accommodation policies are not documented in the available venue record. Given the €€€€ price point and Michelin Star status, contacting the restaurant directly when booking is the right move — fine dining kitchens at this level routinely adapt menus, but confirming in advance is practical given the complexity of a multi-course format.
Zass sits inside one of the Amalfi Coast's most celebrated hotels and holds a Michelin Star — smart attire is appropriate. The setting is formal enough that resort casual (beachwear, shorts, flip-flops) would be out of place, particularly in the evening. Think along the lines of what you would wear to a starred restaurant in a major European city.
La Sponda at Le Sirenuse is the direct comparison — Michelin-starred, similarly priced, and set within a rival landmark hotel in Positano. For a lower price point without leaving town, Da Vincenzo offers solid Campanian cooking with a long local track record. Chez Black is purely casual and seafront, suited to lunch rather than a serious dinner. Li Galli and Al Palazzo serve visitors who want a reliable meal without the advance booking difficulty that Zass demands.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
