Restaurant in Rome, Italy
Rooftop vegetarian dining with a real view.
Rome's most credentialled vegetarian fine dining option, Mater Terrae holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and an address above the Bio Hotel Raphael, steps from Piazza Navona. The rooftop terrace in summer is the primary reason to book; the fully vegetarian, organic menu is the reason to come back. Easy to reserve, €€€€ pricing.
If you have already eaten at Mater Terrae once and are weighing a return, the honest answer is: yes, come back, but time it around the season. The rooftop terrace above the Bio Hotel Raphael is the primary reason to rebook, and right now, in the warmer months, it is fully in play. Dining outdoors over Rome's centro storico roofline, a short walk behind Piazza Navona, is a genuinely rare thing to be able to do at this price tier. The Michelin Plate recognition it has held since 2024 (confirmed again for 2025) signals consistent kitchen craft, not a one-visit novelty. At €€€€ pricing, Mater Terrae is a deliberate choice, but for a food-focused traveller who wants serious vegetarian cooking in one of Rome's most significant neighbourhoods, it is the right one.
Mater Terrae sits on the leading floor of the Bio Hotel Raphael at Largo Febo, 2, just off the south end of Piazza Navona. The location is one of the most argued-over addresses in Rome's historic centre, and arriving here for dinner rather than just passing through it changes the relationship you have with the piazza entirely. You are above the noise, looking back at it.
The menu is fully vegetarian, with a wide vegan selection alongside. All ingredients are described as organic, and the kitchen's emphasis is on seasonal vegetables as the primary event on the plate. This is not a vegetarian restaurant in the apologetic sense — dishes are elaborate, multi-component, and colour-forward. The Michelin creative cooking highlight attached to the 2025 Plate award is a useful signal: the kitchen is working in a register closer to contemporary fine dining than to health-cafe territory. For anyone who has been tracking Italy's most serious vegetable-led cooking, the comparison that keeps coming up is the broader movement associated with chef Pietro Leemann, whose influence on this kitchen's philosophy is documented in the venue's own description. Leemann's work at Joia in Milan set the reference point for Italian vegetarian fine dining two decades ago; Mater Terrae is working in that tradition, applied to a Roman context and a Roman ingredient supply.
The terrace is the visual anchor of a visit here. When the weather holds, it is the obvious choice over the interior. The view across Rome's domes and rooftops is one of the better ones you will get from a restaurant table in the city, and unlike the tourist-facing terraces on the other side of the Tiber, this one is attached to a kitchen that is actually trying. On a return visit, the question of whether to book a terrace table or interior seat is worth thinking through: the terrace is atmospheric and sets the tone for the meal, but on a hot summer evening the interior may be more comfortable for a long, multi-course dinner. Both are options at booking time.
Beyond the main dining room and terrace, the Bistrot Bar on the ground floor of the hotel functions as a pre-dinner option, offering aperitivo with what are described as healthy snacks. For a neighbourhood like this, that is a practical detail worth knowing: you can arrive early, settle in at the bar with a drink, and transition upstairs to dinner without needing to find a separate spot nearby. The area around Piazza Navona has no shortage of options for a pre-dinner drink, but most of them are aimed at the tourist trade. The Bistrot is an easier call.
Rome is not short of €€€€ fine dining options, but serious vegetarian cooking at this level is a much smaller category in the city. Mater Terrae holds a near-singular position there. For the food-focused traveller who has already worked through the obvious Rome fine dining list — La Pergola, Acquolina, Il Pagliaccio, Enoteca La Torre , this fills a gap that nothing else in the city quite covers. The Michelin Plate rating across two consecutive years (2024 and 2025) suggests the kitchen has not slipped, which matters when you are returning on the basis of a previous positive experience.
If your frame of reference for vegetarian fine dining extends beyond Italy, it is worth knowing that Mater Terrae is operating in a global category where the ambition is now high. Venues like Fu He Hui in Shanghai and Lamdre in Beijing show what fully committed vegetarian fine dining looks like when a kitchen goes all-in on the format. Mater Terrae is not trying to be either of those, but it is working seriously within its own register, and the Roman context and location give it something neither of those venues can replicate.
For the explorer who tracks serious Italian cooking across the country, the broader reference set includes Osteria Francescana in Modena, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Le Calandre in Rubano, Dal Pescatore in Runate, Enrico Bartolini in Milan, and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico. Mater Terrae is not competing directly with any of them in format or philosophy, but it belongs in that conversation as the city of Rome's most credentialled dedicated vegetarian option.
Google reviews sit at 4.1 from 234 ratings, which is a reasonable signal of consistent delivery without cult-level devotion. That number suggests a restaurant that meets expectations reliably rather than generating the kind of strong reactions, in either direction, that skew scores. For a return visitor, that consistency is more reassuring than a volatile high average.
Address: Largo Febo, 2, 00186 Rome, Italy (leading floor of the Bio Hotel Raphael, behind Piazza Navona). Budget: €€€€ per head; allow for a multi-course dinner at fine dining pricing. Cuisine: Fully vegetarian with wide vegan options; organic, seasonal produce. Chef: Ettore Moliteo, with the kitchen's philosophy shaped in part by Pietro Leemann's tradition of Italian vegetarian fine dining. Awards: Michelin Plate 2024 and 2025, with a creative cooking highlight. Reservations: Booking is rated easy; reserve a terrace table specifically if visiting in warm weather. Google Rating: 4.1 from 234 reviews. Bar access: The Bistrot Bar at hotel level operates as a pre-dinner aperitivo option. Explore more: See our full guides to Rome restaurants, Rome hotels, Rome bars, Rome wineries, and Rome experiences.
Groups are possible, but the setting is more naturally suited to two to four people. The rooftop terrace and the dining room of a hotel restaurant at €€€€ pricing in central Rome are not designed for large party logistics. If you are planning a group dinner, contact the hotel directly to confirm whether a private arrangement is available , the Raphael's five-star setup suggests some flexibility, but nothing in the available information confirms a dedicated private dining room. For smaller groups of four to six, a standard reservation should work without special arrangements. Budget at the €€€€ tier across a full group will add up quickly; factor that in when comparing against Rome alternatives like Achilli al Parlamento for a different format.
Not at the restaurant bar upstairs in the conventional counter-dining sense, but the Bistrot Bar at hotel level does serve food alongside drinks. It is described as offering healthy snacks during aperitivo, so it functions as a light eating option rather than a full-meal alternative. If you want a taste of the kitchen's philosophy without committing to a full dinner at the vegetarian fine dining price point, the Bistrot is the practical entry point. It is also a useful staging area before heading up to the main dining room.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mater Terrae | Vegetarian | €€€€ | Easy |
| Enoteca La Torre | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Il Pagliaccio | Contemporary Italian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Aroma | Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Idylio by Apreda | Modern Italian, Italian Contemporary | €€€€ | Unknown |
| La Palta | Country cooking | €€€ | Unknown |
Comparing your options in Rome for this tier.
Group bookings are possible given Mater Terrae occupies the top floor of the Bio Hotel Raphael, which has the footprint for larger parties. That said, at €€€€ per head with an elaborate multi-course vegetarian format, this works best for small groups of 4–8 who are genuinely committed to plant-based fine dining. Larger parties should check the venue's official channels to confirm table configuration and whether the terrace can be reserved, as alfresco service depends on season.
Yes — the Bistrot Bar at Mater Terrae offers aperitivo service with organic snacks, which is the lower-commitment entry point to the Raphael's top-floor setting. If you want the rooftop view without committing to a full €€€€ tasting menu, the bar is the practical option. It is a solid fallback if tables are full or you want to assess the room before booking a return dinner.
Mater Terrae is primarily known for Vegetarian in Rome.
Mater Terrae is located in Rome, at Largo Febo, 2, 00186 Roma RM, Italy.
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