Made ByRestaurant
Moma
Chef in Residence
Andrea Pasqualucci
Chef
- 01CuisineModern Italian Fine Dining
- 02CityRome, Italy
- 03RecognitionOne Michelin Star
Moma occupies a deliberate position inside Rome's modern Italian dining tier: creative cooking that moves away from the city's traditional canon, served across two distinct formats under the same roof. Ranked #258 in the Opinionated About Dining Classical in Europe list for 2025, it draws a crowd that prefers invention over repetition, with a split-level format that works equally well for a working lunch or a considered evening meal.
- 1 Michelin Star
At a glance
- Cuisine
- Modern Italian Fine Dining
- Price
- $$$
- Hours
- Mon: 12:30–3 PM, 7:30–11 PM; Tue: 12:30–3 PM, 7:30–11 PM; Wed: 12:30–3 PM, 7:30–11 PM; Thu: 12:30–3 PM, 7:30–11 PM; Fri: 12:30–3 PM, 7:30–11 PM; Sat: 7:30–11 PM; Sun: Closed
- Neighborhood
- Piazza Barberini
- Rating
- 4.5 (1,030)
<h2>Where Roman Cooking Ends and Creative Italian Begins</h2><p>Rome's dining identity is among the most defended in Italy. Cacio e pepe, coda alla vaccinara, supplì: the city's culinary canon carries real weight, and restaurants that stray from it often do so quietly and at some commercial risk. The creative Italian tier in Rome is smaller and more contested than its equivalents in Milan or Modena, where innovation has longer institutional roots. Against that backdrop, a restaurant in the centro storico that deliberately keeps traditional Roman dishes to a minimum is making a statement worth paying attention to.</p><p>Moma, on Via di S. Basilio in Rome, sits precisely in that position. Chef Andrea Pasqualucci runs a kitchen oriented toward new ingredients and combinations rather than the reassurance of Roman classics. The result is a restaurant that reads less like a product of its city and more like a participant in a broader Italian creative movement, one with strong nodes in Florence (see <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/enoteca-pinchiorri">Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence</a>), Modena (<a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/osteria-francescana">Osteria Francescana</a>), and Milan (<a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/enrico-bartolini-milan-restaurant">Enrico Bartolini</a>), but relatively few Rome addresses of comparable ambition.</p><h2>Two Floors, Two Registers</h2><p>The physical layout of Moma encodes its editorial position. The ground floor operates at lunch with a more informal menu and a lower register of formality, designed for the business and neighbourhood crowd that wants something considered without committing to a full gourmet occasion. The first floor is where the kitchen's creative program is presented in full: attentive, professional service, more considered plating, and a menu that reflects Pasqualucci's range more completely.</p><p>This split-level format has become a viable model for Rome's mid-to-upper tier, allowing a single kitchen to address two different demand profiles without diluting either. It also gives Moma a flexibility that single-format restaurants at the same price point lack. For visitors with only one lunchtime slot, the ground floor offers a lower-pressure entry point; for those planning a proper evening, the upstairs dining room delivers the fuller version of the kitchen's output.</p><p>The split is worth factoring into any planning decision. A lunch booking on the ground floor and a dinner reservation on the first floor are, in effect, different experiences of the same address.</p><h2>Creative Italian in a Roman Context</h2><p>Italy's creative restaurant tier does not resolve neatly to a single regional identity. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/atelier-moessmer-norbert-niederkofler-brunico-restaurant">Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico</a> draws on Alto Adige's alpine larder. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/quattro-passi-marina-del-cantone-restaurant">Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone</a> and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/torre-del-saracino-vico-equense-restaurant">Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense</a> work the Campanian coastline. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/villa-crespi-orta-san-giulio-restaurant">Villa Crespi in Orta San Giulio</a> and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/dal-pescatore-runate-restaurant">Dal Pescatore in Runate</a> represent the northern Italian countryside tradition of sustained fine dining.</p><p>Rome's equivalent has always been harder to define. The city's strongest culinary identity is rooted in cucina povera and the offal-forward traditions of the Testaccio slaughterhouse district, neither of which map easily onto contemporary creative cooking. The restaurants that have built credible creative programs here, including <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/il-pagliaccio-rome-restaurant">Il Pagliaccio</a>, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/acquolina-rome-restaurant">Acquolina</a>, and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/enoteca-la-torre-rome-restaurant">Enoteca La Torre</a>, have generally done so by looking outward rather than anchoring to local tradition. Moma operates in the same mode. The menu retains a few Roman reference points, but the dominant logic is the chef's own creative language rather than deference to the city's culinary inheritance.</p><p>This is not a criticism. It is a description of what the restaurant is, and of the diner it is built for. Those arriving in Rome specifically for cacio e pepe or abbacchio will find more committed versions elsewhere. Those interested in what a talented Roman chef does when freed from the weight of local expectation will find Moma considerably more interesting.</p><h2>Where Moma Sits in Rome's Competitive Set</h2><p>Priced at €€€, Moma sits one tier below Rome's most expensive creative addresses. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/la-pergola-rome-restaurant">La Pergola</a>, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/il-pagliaccio-rome-restaurant">Il Pagliaccio</a>, and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/enoteca-la-torre-rome-restaurant">Enoteca La Torre</a> all operate at €€€€, where tasting menu formats and higher per-cover costs are standard. Moma's pricing places it at a point where the creative program remains accessible without the full ceremony of the city's top tier. <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/achilli-al-parlamento-rome-restaurant">Achilli al Parlamento</a> occupies adjacent territory in Rome's creative mid-upper range.</p><p>The Opinionated About Dining (OAD) Classical in Europe ranking provides the most consistent external calibration available for Moma. The restaurant placed as a Recommended address in 2023, climbed to #242 in 2024, and reached #258 in 2025. The slight ranking movement between 2024 and 2025 is less significant than the broader trajectory: sustained OAD presence across three consecutive years at the €€€ tier positions Moma as one of the more credible addresses in Rome's mid-upper creative category. OAD rankings are driven by professional and frequent-diner votes, which gives them stronger signal value for this type of restaurant than general review platforms. The Google rating of 4.5 across 1030 reviews adds a broader data point, confirming consistent performance across a much larger and less specialist audience.</p><p>For the wider Rome restaurant picture, including addresses across all price tiers and cuisines, see our full Rome restaurants guide.</p><h2>Timing and Practical Notes</h2><p>Moma opens for lunch Monday through Friday (12:30 PM to 3:00 PM) and for dinner Monday through Saturday (7:30 PM to 11:00 PM). The restaurant is closed on Sundays. Saturday is dinner-only, which removes the ground-floor lunch option for weekend visitors. This schedule makes Moma primarily a weekday address for those wanting to experience both formats, or a Saturday evening option for those focused on the first-floor creative program.</p><p>The Via Veneto neighbourhood is well connected and easy to reach from central Rome and the major hotel zones.</p><div style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:1.2em;margin:2em 0;background:#f9f9f9;"><h3>Know Before You Go</h3><ul><li>Address: Via di S. Basilio, 42, 00187 Roma RM, Italy</li><li>Cuisine: Modern Italian, Creative</li><li>Price range: €€€</li><li>Lunch hours: Monday–Friday, 12:30 PM–3:00 PM</li><li>Dinner hours: Monday–Saturday, 7:30 PM–11:00 PM</li><li>Closed: Sunday; no Saturday lunch</li><li>Format: Ground floor (informal lunch) / First floor (gourmet dining room)</li><li>Chef: Andrea Pasqualucci</li><li>Recognition: OAD Classical in Europe #258 (2025), #242 (2024), Recommended (2023)</li><li>Google rating: 4.5 / 5 (964 reviews)</li></ul></div>
Know before you go
- Dress code
- smart_casual
- Reservations
- essential
- Groups
- Welcomed
Frequently asked
Does Moma work for a family meal?
At the €€€ price point, with a kitchen oriented toward creative and imaginative dishes rather than Roman staples, Moma suits adults looking for considered cooking more than it suits a broad family table. The ground-floor lunch format is the more relaxed option if a mixed group is unavoidable, though the first-floor dinner service sets a more focused tone. Families with younger children would likely find the format a poor fit.
What's the vibe at Moma?
The atmosphere shifts depending on where you sit and when. Ground-floor lunch operates at a lower register of formality, appropriate for a business meal or a relaxed midday stop. The first-floor dining room at dinner is a different proposition: attentive, professional service and a kitchen, helmed by Andrea Pasqualucci, delivering creative and imaginative plates. Michelin's inspectors and OAD both track this address, which positions it firmly in Rome's serious dining tier.
Does Moma have a Michelin star or similar recognition?
Moma has received recognition including: At lunchtime, enjoy informal dishes on the ground floor of this restaurant, while more creative gourmet cuisine is served by attentive and professional staff in the dining room on the first floor. Talented Roman chef Andrea Pasqualucci is a….
What do regulars order at Moma?
The menu is not built around Roman classics. Andrea Pasqualucci leans toward new ingredients and unexpected combinations, so the kitchen rewards those willing to follow the menu's direction rather than those seeking cacio e pepe or supplì. OAD ranked Moma #258 in Europe for 2025, a ranking driven by that creative orientation. The first-floor dinner tasting menu is where the kitchen's range is most fully expressed.
Address
Via di S. Basilio, 42, 00187 Roma RM, Italy
Piazza Barberini
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