There’s a common thread linking Rome’s three most important restaurants: you dine with the city at your feet. Monte Mario, Trinità dei Monti, Via Veneto: three different terraces, three unique cuisines, but always Rome unfolding beneath the windows as the first course arrives.
Forbes Italia has compiled this list, having just published the “Top 25 Most Powerful Chefs,” a ranking of the chefs who matter most in Italy: not just for their Michelin stars, but for their influence on Italian cuisine and the communities that revolve around it.
Here are the three Romans on the list: who they are, where to find them, and what to order.
Heinz Beck — La Pergola, atop Monte Mario
Let’s start with the most decorated. Heinz Beck has helmed La Pergola, perched atop the Rome Cavalieri on Monte Mario, since 1994: it isthe only three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Rome and the Lazio region, and at the 2026 Guide ceremony, the chef received the Mentor Award for having trained generations of chefs.
In 2025, the dining room and terrace were completely redesigned, with warm terracotta tones echoing the city’s rooftops.
His cuisine is Mediterranean, light, and obsessed with quality and health. Three dishes are enough to describe it: the aperitif, which is a journey through the Italian regions; the signature dish “0.1%” (a cobblestone-shaped arrangement of tomato and charcoal surrounded by wild herbs); and “Lamb on the Ancient Appian Way,” with legumes arranged to mimic the cobblestones of the road.
Andrea Antonini — Imàgo, above the Spanish Steps
The youngest of the three is also the only one born in Rome. Andrea Antonini, born in 1991, has been at the helm of Imàgo since 2019, on the sixth floor of the Hotel Hassler, where the view takes in the Spanish Steps and overlooks the Spanish Steps. One Michelin star, a wine cellar with over 1,500 labels, and a contemporary Italian cuisine built on technique and quality ingredients.
In 2025, to mark its 20th anniversary, Imàgo was completely reimagined: the new design virtually erases the boundary between the dining room and the kitchen, creating a single, fluid space where service and dishes blend seamlessly. And the best part is that, despite the ultra-luxurious setting, its tasting menu is among the most “down-to-earth” in the city: it features a porchetta sandwich and a reimagined chicken and peppers dish, alongside a classic Roman dish like artichokes and sweetbreads.
Salvatore Bianco — La Terrazza at the Hotel Eden, overlooking Via Veneto
He’s the most recent arrival, and for Rome, it’s almost a major coup. Salvatore Bianco, originally from Torre del Greco in Campania, moved in 2024 to the Terrazza at the Hotel Eden, located at 49 Via Ludovisi—just a stone’s throw from Via Veneto—after a decade and a Michelin star at Il Comandante at Romeo in Naples. And in November 2025, the restaurant earned its Michelin star.
On the sixth floor, with a view stretching from the Quirinale to St. Peter’s, Bianco offers two tasting menus inspired by Dalí: “The Persistence of Memory” (€220) and “The Metamorphosis” (€200), with the option to also choose à la carte or a shorter menu.
The 2026 Forbes ranking of Italy’s 25 most powerful chefs: what it recognizes (and a fun fact)
The Top 25 Most Powerful Chefs list is curated by Maddalena Fossati Dondero, editor-in-chief of *La Cucina Italiana*, and this year’s awards were presented during an evening event at Cantine Bellavista in Erbusco. The selection criteria focus not only on stars and accolades, but also on how much these chefs contribute to the growth of their communities and the entire “system” of Italian cuisine.
At the top of the list is the Cerea family of Da Vittorio, with sixty years of hospitality, followed in a tie by Norbert Niederkofler and Niko Romito from Abruzzo; among the special awards are the “Maestri” Massimo Bottura and Antonino Cannavacciuolo, and highlights such as the recognition given to Franco Pepe for turning pizza into a destination in its own right.
