Lumen Cocktails & Cuisine is the spectacular lobby bar and all-day restaurant of The St. Regis Rome, the grand hotel on Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, found just a few steps from Piazza della Repubblica. Under Executive Chef Francesco Donatelli the kitchen serves Italian classics, served with a contemporary touch. The bar mixes a signature cocktail list that’s a hit with Romans, as well as hotel guests.
A Grand hotel
The St. Regis Rome opened in 1894 as the Grand Hotel, the creation of César Ritz, and its opening night was attended by the Pope, the Kaiser and the King of Italy, no less. It gave Rome its first public ballroom, which remains, including frescoes by Mario Spinetti. It was also amongst the first hotels in the city with electric light and a lift. The whole building was restored by Pierre-Yves Rochon and reopened in late 2018. The lounge that is now Lumen was conceived as a homage to the winter garden of Ritz’s original hotel. As soon as you walk in, you feel the essence of a classic palm court of a great grand dame hotel, yet here with a lively, modern style that is undeniably St. Regis.
Where the city meets
You arrive through a marble hall of rose columns with a shining checkerboard floor, and past the grand staircase. The central atrium sits beneath the chandeliers and glass, with grand hotel credentials. Yet then you catch a glimpse of the neon LUMEN sign glowing above the bar, the playful butterfly china and bold blue tumblers on the tables, and you realise this is a relaxed and fun meeting place. The architecture of the classic hotel atrium are intact, and the elegance too, but the volume has been turned up. On the night I visited, Lumen was full and lively.
From the bar to the table
Lumen works as one room in two halves. Cocktails happen on the bar side, seated in low armchairs or banquettes beside lacquered tables. Drinks arrive with a little tiered brass stand of nibbles. Then dinner is on the other side at tables laid with white linen. You can move across when you are ready, or simply stay where you are, because the kitchen will serve dinner at any table in the room. That flexibility suits an evening that starts as drinks and turns into supper without anyone having a set plan. Lumen feels spontaneous. Between six and eight there is a Mozzichi menu of small plates, and at seven the St. Regis sabering ritual opens a bottle of champagne with a blade.
The cocktails
The Lumen Cocktails list runs from a porcini-infused vodka sour called Eremita to a Negroni Shakerato made with mezcal. The Lumen Classics are served in the Signature Glass Collection, glassware created with the artists Federico Pepe, Nico Vascellari, Patricia Urquiola and Elena Salmistrari. There is a Bloody Mary Selection, a nod to the Red Snapper heritage of the St. Regis in New York, as well as an excellent Low & No list including No-Groni and a Mediterranean Sour. We drank a champagne cocktail and a Negroni over a single large cube of ice with a twist of orange.
Sinatra in Rome
There is live music. The night we dined, a pianist belted out American songbook classics. It gives the room a great deal of its energy, and the tables around us clearly loved it. For me, it was a shade too loud.
The kitchen
Chef Francesco Donatelli describes his cooking as Italian classics distilled to their purest form, with a return to tableside rituals. This is reflected in the menu, with cacio e pepe, carbonara and amatriciana alongside a caprese with buffalo mozzarella from Caserta, sole meunière and a veal cutlet. The dish to order is the risotto with Mediterranean red prawns, developed with the Gambero Rosso Academy and finished at the trolley beside the table. In our case, it was finished by our server Alessia, who made the whole evening great fun. The fried courgette flowers were the one disappointment, the batter heavier than the dish deserves. But the tasty bread came with Lumen’s own limited edition extra virgin olive oil from Azienda Agricola Trevisi. Dessert was splendid: the Amalfi Lemon Delight, a lemon-shaped shell over cream and a crumble base, served on the butterfly plate. We drank a Sicilian wine, Idda 2024, and an Ermacora Sauvignon from the Friuli Colli Orientali.
The service
Service was warm, with a sense of humour. Raffaele, the head maître, was welcoming, and Alessia, our server, had a great personality.
Worth knowing
Lumen is open all day, from breakfast through lunch and afternoon tea, with a tea ritual in partnership with Dammann Frères and Marchesi 1824, to dinner and late cocktails.
The Luxury Editor dined as a guest of The St. Regis Rome.
