Take your seat, fasten your seatbelt as if on a roller coaster, and feel yourself being lifted until the port becomes a miniature model: for five days in Formia, this is how you dine —50 meters above the ground, with the Gulf of Gaeta spreading out beneath your feet.
It’s the same suspended restaurant you’d find in Dubai or Las Vegas, but for once, you don’t need to take a plane: you can experience it just over an hour by train from Rome.
After a two-year hiatus, Dinner in the Sky returns from July 29 to August 2 at the Amerigo Vespucci Port, and with only 22 seats per session, tickets are selling out fast.
Feet dangling in the void and seatbelts like in Formula 1: what’s it like going up?
The setup is the same one that has made this concept famous in over 70 cities around the world: a platform with a table, kitchen, and chairs is hooked onto a crane and hoisted 50 meters into the air.
You take your seat, secured by trained staff, and within a few moments the floor disappears beneath your feet.
From up there, you can watch the comings and goings of the boats and take in the Formia skyline from a perspective that no table with a view can offer.
From sunrise to sunset: what to eat (and when)
The best part is that it’s not just dinner. The experience ranges from breakfast at sunrise—which starts at 5:45 a.m. as the sun rises over the sea—to dinner at 8:00 p.m., including lunch, aperitifs, and pre-dinner drinks: five different sessions, each with its own atmosphere and drinks included.
In the kitchen is Chef Maurizio De Filippis of Riso Amaro Ristorante Catering, with a menu rooted in the local region: from panzanella made with Fondanello tomatoes, creamed salt cod, and buffalo mozzarella to cuttlefish lasagnetta with black ragù, all the way to grouper ravioli.
This is the first edition under the new management, Daniele Venditti’s Double Ex Group, which aims to make Formia a regular stop on the circuit.
Tickets are flying off the shelves: dates, prices, and how to book
Here’s the part you shouldn’t overlook: each ascent accommodates just 22 people, and as with every stop, seats sell out quickly. Reservations are already open on the official website, and the organizers expect it to sell out quickly.
Prices start at €87 per person—payable in three interest-free installments of €29—and go up depending on the seating time you choose.
It’s not cheap, but it’s not exorbitantly expensive either, and for a sunrise or a dinner with your feet dangling over the Gulf of Gaeta, some people consider it an expense worth the memory.
