Da Lucio

The story

Da Lucio: Michelin-Starred Seafood & Dry-Aged Fish in Rimini, Italy

Da Lucio: Rimini’s Island of Dry-Aged Fish

In Rimini, chef Jacopo Ticchi has built a restaurant that feels like an island. Da Lucio, now located on the dock at Viale Ortigara 80, is built on the idea that “the sea outside and the sea inside” should be one and the same. The experience is immersive: the waves are visible from the table, and the menu is a direct expression of the Adriatic.

Ticchi, born in Romagna in 1994, trained at Pietro Leemann’s Joia in Milan and in Spain before returning to Rimini to focus on fish ageing. At Da Lucio, he applies dry-ageing techniques almost exclusively to large fish, a method that concentrates flavour and transforms texture. Less noble cuts, such as offal, become stars of the menu. Most cooking happens over a charcoal grill or in a wood-fired oven, with the fire visible from the dining room.

The menu changes with the seasons, built around whole, sustainable fish and the relationships Ticchi has with his suppliers. The kitchen is open and centred in the room, so guests watch the team work. Da Lucio’s approach to contemporary Italian seafood earned it a Michelin star in 2026, a recognition of the precision and clarity of Ticchi’s cooking.

The restaurant’s ethos extends beyond technique. Ticchi was named Young Ethical Chef of the Year by Care’s in 2023, and Da Lucio aims to be a cultural destination, not just a place to eat. The team of more than thirty people, many of them young and from across Italy, works with a focus on hospitality that blends French maître elegance with Romagna warmth. For Ticchi, food is a vehicle for ideas, and the goal is to inspire a more ethical future for dining.