Restaurant in Rome, Italy
Creative Roman cooking, no Michelin-star invoice.
Osteria Fernanda is a Michelin Plate-recognised creative kitchen in Trastevere, led by chef Davide del Duca, offering genuine culinary ambition at the €€€ tier — well below Rome's starred creative rooms. With a 4.5 Google rating across nearly 900 reviews and an OAD Casual Europe recommendation, it is the stronger choice for a date night or celebration dinner where the cooking matters more than ceremony.
You are in Trastevere on a Tuesday evening, walking past the shuttered stalls of Porta Portese, and you find yourself at a minimalist dining room on Via Crescenzo del Monte where the menu does not read like Roman tradition — it reads like someone who knows that tradition deeply and has decided to push past it. That is the short version of what Osteria Fernanda offers. The longer version: this is one of the more considered creative kitchens operating in Rome at the €€€ price tier, and if you are choosing between a second visit to a reliable neighbourhood trattoria and something with more ambition, book here instead.
Osteria Fernanda holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, and an Opinionated About Dining Casual Europe recommendation from 2023 — the latter a signal worth taking seriously, since OAD's casual category tends to surface restaurants that are doing real culinary work without the formal-dining overhead. With a Google rating of 4.5 across 898 reviews, the consistency is there. The Michelin Plate designation does not carry the same weight as a star, but in this context it matters: it means Michelin's inspectors consider the cooking worth flagging, without yet committing to star status. For a €€€ address in a city where the starred options escalate quickly to €€€€, that positioning is useful.
Chef Davide del Duca leads the kitchen, and the approach is locally sourced where possible, with produce from further afield when the dish calls for it. The Michelin guide specifically highlights the Porter beer ice-cream with black garlic mousse, chocolate and tuber peelings as a dessert worth ordering , a combination that signals the kitchen is not simply plating Roman classics with a garnish, but genuinely working in a creative register. That dessert alone tells you something about the kitchen's willingness to take ingredients that read as savoury or unusual and trust them to land in a sweet context. If that kind of cooking interests you, this is a reasonable place to spend an evening.
The front of house is run by Andrea, and the Michelin commentary describes the dining room as minimalist in style. At the €€€ tier in Rome, you should expect attentive but unfussy service , and the division of labour here, with one partner running the floor and the other the kitchen, tends to produce more coherent hospitality than rooms where those functions are less clearly defined. The room is not trying to be a grand occasion venue. It is a serious restaurant in a Trastevere neighbourhood setting, and the service philosophy appears to match that: knowledgeable, present, not theatrical. For a special occasion dinner where the conversation matters as much as the food, that register is the right call. For anyone expecting the ceremony of a starred room, the expectation gap could be real.
At €€€ pricing, Osteria Fernanda sits meaningfully below the starred creative kitchens in Rome , places like Il Pagliaccio or Acquolina , and the OAD casual recommendation frames it correctly: this is a restaurant where the cooking is the main event, not the room or the service architecture. That framing also helps calibrate value. You are paying for creative cooking and a professional front of house, not for crystal glassware and a bread trolley.
The restaurant opens for dinner Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 11:30 pm, and adds a Saturday and Sunday lunch service from 12:30 to 3:30 pm. Booking is rated easy, which in Rome's current dining market is not nothing , the starred addresses and OAD-top-tier venues require weeks of planning. Here you should be able to secure a table with a few days' notice on most evenings, though weekend dinner will tighten up. The address is Via Crescenzo del Monte 18, in the Trastevere district, within walking distance of most of the neighbourhood's accommodation and easily reachable from the centro storico. No website or phone number is listed in our database; reservations are most reliably made through the standard Italian booking platforms.
Osteria Fernanda makes most sense for a date night or a small celebration where you want genuine culinary ambition without the formality or the invoice of a starred room. It is a strong choice for someone who has already done the Trastevere trattoria circuit and wants something with more intention on the plate. Solo diners should find the format accessible, though seat configuration details are not available. If you are planning a larger group, contact the restaurant directly to confirm capacity , the minimalist room description suggests seating is not unlimited. For Rome's broader creative dining scene, including starred options and neighbourhood alternatives, see our full Rome restaurants guide.
Comparable creative kitchens operating in Italy at different price and formality levels include Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Osteria Francescana in Modena, Le Calandre in Rubano, and Dal Pescatore in Runate , though all of those sit at a higher price point and formality level than Fernanda. For something closer in register but in the north, Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico is worth knowing. Within Rome's starred tier, La Pergola and Achilli al Parlamento represent the upper end of the creative spectrum, while Enoteca La Torre sits in a comparable creative bracket at €€€€. Internationally, if you are benchmarking this style of creative tasting-format cooking against global reference points, Atomix in New York or Enrico Bartolini in Milan show where that ambition goes at the highest level. Also worth exploring: our Rome hotels guide, Rome bars guide, Rome wineries guide, and Rome experiences guide.
The Michelin guide specifically calls out the Porter beer ice-cream with black garlic mousse, chocolate and tuber peelings as the dessert to order. Beyond that, the kitchen works with locally sourced ingredients alongside produce from further afield , the creative menu format means it is worth asking the front of house what the kitchen is most focused on during your visit. Chef Davide del Duca's approach is genuinely creative rather than trattoria-conventional, so lean into the less familiar options rather than defaulting to Roman classics you could get elsewhere in Trastevere.
Yes, in general terms. The minimalist dining room and the neighbourhood Trastevere setting make it a more comfortable solo option than the formal starred rooms in Rome, where a solo diner can feel conspicuous. At €€€ pricing it is a manageable spend for one, and the creative menu format is interesting enough to hold your attention without a dining companion. Specific counter or bar seating details are not confirmed in our data, so if a bar seat is important to your solo experience, it is worth asking when you book.
Bar seating is not confirmed in our database for Osteria Fernanda. The Michelin description references a minimalist dining room without specifying a bar counter. Contact the restaurant directly before your visit if bar or counter dining is your preference , this is worth clarifying rather than assuming, especially for a solo visit or a walk-in attempt.
Dinner is the safer default , the restaurant runs its full week on the evening service (Monday to Friday, 7:30–11:30 pm), while lunch is only available Saturday and Sunday (12:30–3:30 pm). If you are visiting on a weekend and want a lighter spend than a full dinner, the Saturday or Sunday lunch is a reasonable option and likely easier to book at short notice than a weekend evening. For a special occasion meal, the evening service sets the right tone.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, which is a relative advantage over Rome's starred creative kitchens , places like Il Pagliaccio or Acquolina require significantly more lead time. For a weekday dinner, a few days' notice should be sufficient. For a Saturday evening, book at least a week out. No online booking link is listed in our database, so use a standard Italian reservation platform or look for the restaurant's booking channel directly.
Seat count is not confirmed in our database, but the minimalist room description and the neighbourhood Trastevere format suggest this is not a large-capacity venue. Groups of four to six should be manageable; larger parties should contact the restaurant directly before assuming availability. At €€€ pricing, a group dinner here is a reasonable spend per head by Rome standards, and the creative menu format works well for a celebratory group that is engaged in the food rather than looking for a formulaic set menu.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Osteria Fernanda | €€€ | — |
| Enoteca La Torre | €€€€ | — |
| Il Pagliaccio | €€€€ | — |
| Aroma | €€€€ | — |
| Idylio by Apreda | €€€€ | — |
| La Palta | €€€ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Osteria Fernanda and alternatives.
The Michelin guide specifically calls out the Porter beer ice cream with black garlic mousse, chocolate, and tuber peelings — order it. Beyond dessert, the kitchen under Davide del Duca works with locally sourced Roman produce alongside ingredients from further afield, so the menu shifts with availability. Ask the team what is cooking that evening rather than arriving with a fixed list.
The minimalist dining room and attentive front-of-house run by Andrea make it a reasonable solo option, particularly midweek when the room is quieter. At the €€€ tier, solo dining here is a considered spend, but the creative kitchen gives you enough to focus on. If solo counter-style dining is your priority, verify seating options directly with the restaurant when booking.
Bar seating is not confirmed in the available venue data, and the Michelin description focuses on a minimalist dining room format. check the venue's official channels at Via Crescenzo del Monte, 18 to confirm counter or bar options before assuming a walk-in bar arrangement is possible.
Dinner runs Monday through Friday and both weekend days, making it the more flexible option for most visitors. Weekend lunch (Saturday and Sunday, 12:30–3:30 pm) is the only midday service available, and it suits a slower Trastevere afternoon. For the full creative menu experience, dinner is the more likely showcase — but lunch is worth considering if you want the neighbourhood at its quietest.
Book at least one to two weeks ahead, more for weekend dinner. Michelin recognition — a Plate in both 2024 and 2025, plus an Opinionated About Dining recommendation — means demand from food-focused travellers is consistent. No online booking link is listed, so reach out directly to the restaurant to reserve.
The minimalist dining room format suggests a relatively intimate space, which can limit large group suitability. Groups of four to six are the practical ceiling for most rooms of this type; larger parties should check the venue's official channels to confirm capacity. At €€€ per head, factor the per-person spend into group planning early.
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