Milan to Rome: A Feast of Luxury
Milan
Dine at one of Milan’s most extraordinary tables as soon as tomorrow. With American Airlines now flying daily nonstop from Miami to Milan, you can leave in the evening and wake up in the heart of Italy’s fashion capital.
Check into The Carlton, Rocco Forte’s newly opened Milan address, perfectly positioned where Via della Spiga meets Via Senato. The finest shopping is quite literally outside your door, including Prada’s original 1913 boutique. Just a short walk away you will discover the historic mahogany shelves still intact beneath the glass vaults of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
Reimagined by Olga Polizzi with Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylen, the hotel balances Milanese restraint with exactly the right amount of glamour. Among the new experiences is “The Milan Vintage Edit,” a private journey through Italy’s fashion heritage, with visits to storied vintage archives, legendary jewelry houses, and celebrated design ateliers. Within its first year, Michelin awarded it Two Keys. Some hotels need time to find themselves. The Carlton arrived knowing exactly who it was.
For dinner, reserve the two Michelin starred Ristorante Andrea Aprea. Returning from Milan, I am still consumed with memories of that dinner.
Set on the top floor of Fondazione Luigi Rovati, the intimate dining room welcomes only 36 guests and faces a fully open kitchen, its walls lined in bucchero, the black ceramic of the Etruscans.
Aprea’s cooking is Naples’ memory expressed with global precision, shaped by decades of experience at some of the world’s finest restaurants, from London to Kuala Lumpur. It is an animated journey between past and present, where the simplicity of the richest ingredients Italy has to offer is matched with unparalleled theatrical production.
His Neapolitan upbringing shines through in reimagined ideas like his signature Caprese… Dolce, Salato, where milky buffalo mozzarella, the juiciest and most intensely rich tomato, basil, and bread are reconstructed into something completely unexpected.
From the moment Pop Rocks begin exploding in your mouth, you realize this will not be an ordinary dinner. A potato wrapped in silver leaf recalls the youthful nostalgia of a baked potato in foil, now resting on a decadent sauce, while tender, fleshy fish arrives with the glamour and precision only a chef of this caliber can execute night after night.
Every plate is delivered with refined, choreographed elegance, yet the food remains deeply delicious, avant garde but entirely approachable.
While this article was being prepared, Jessica Rocchi, Head Sommelier was named Best Sommelier 2027 by Les Grandes Tables du Monde! Her collection of some 900 labels is composed to converse with Aprea’s cooking, and even the alcohol free pairing is approached with the same imagination and care.
The technique surprises, the presentation creates wonder, and there are still a few moments I will not reveal, because hopefully you will be there soon to experience them for yourself.
ROME
Return through Rome and take a break from pasta. Check into The St. Regis Rome, where elegance began when César Ritz opened the Grand Hotel in 1894, and book a table at the newly opened Akira Back, the chef’s first restaurant in the Eternal City.
The Seoul born chef and former professional snowboarder earned a Michelin star for Dosa in Seoul by translating his Korean roots into fine dining. Here, modern Japanese cooking meets Korean accents across intimate dining rooms and a private twelve seat omakase room. Order the signature AB Tuna Pizza with bluefin tuna, umami aioli, micro shiso, and white truffle oil.
The hotel itself is where Roman grand hotel life began. It was the first hotel in the city with electricity and a private bathroom in every room. The Salone Ritz, Rome’s first ballroom, has been exquisitely preserved and reimagined as one of the city’s most spectacular event spaces.
Pierre Yves Rochon’s restoration brings the original frescoes, damask, Murano glass, travertine, and bronze together with contemporary art. The Michelin Guide has awarded the hotel Two Keys, but it is the impeccable service and elegant execution that stay with you.
While you are there, you must experience the nightly Champagne sabrage at LUMEN. Every evening at seven, a bottle is opened by the blade, live music begins, and aperitivo is served as it should be.
Roman artisans are woven throughout, from the uniforms created by couturier Giada Curti to the symbols of the city drawn for the menus and stationery by Roman illustrator Gianluca Biscalchin. My personal favorite is the featherlight linen pajamas created especially for the hotel by historic Roman house Tebro 1867. Even the sleepwear has pedigree.
This place never fails. It is timeless, seasoned perfectly, with every detail rising to meet the elegance of its atmosphere.
You cannot visit Rome without dinner at its first and still only three Michelin starred restaurant. For the most exquisite dining experience, find Heinz Beck at his flagship La Pergola, perched on Monte Mario, Rome’s highest hill, with a bird’s eye view across the domes of the Eternal City to St. Peter’s, assuming you can even look up from the decadent creations on your plate.
The dining room reopened in June 2024 after a complete renovation, yet it still feels like an occasion in the most wonderfully old fashioned way. Gentlemen wear jackets. Dishes are finished at the table. A sauce is poured, a cloche is lifted, and every gesture is classic.
Beck has led this kitchen since 1994, In 2005, La Pergola became the first restaurant in Rome to earn three Michelin stars. More than twenty years later, it still holds the same prestige. His reach now extends to Sicily, where St. George by Heinz Beck in Taormina holds two Michelin stars of its own.
Order his signature Fagottelli La Pergola, delicate parcels filled with liquid carbonara. Have sommelier Marco Reitano, Beck’s wine partner for three decades, guide you through a cellar of more than 60,000 bottles.
Rome is waiting to be experienced all over again.