Pulejo

The story

Pulejo: Michelin-Starred Italian Contemporary Restaurant in Rome

Pulejo

On Via dei Gracchi in Rome’s Prati district, Pulejo is the deeply personal project of chef Davide Puleio. The restaurant opened on March 31, 2022, and its name is the chef’s own family name—a deliberate choice that signals the warmth and memory at the heart of this kitchen. “The theme of memory is central,” Puleio says, “both for the sensory evocation the dishes aim to transmit, and for the intention of ‘bringing people home’ by welcoming guests in a warm, familiar environment.”

Puleio’s path to this dining room began at 21, when he started at Il Convivio Troiani in Rome. He then cooked in London and spent time at Noma in Copenhagen before returning to Italy. In Milan, he led the kitchen at L’Alchimia, where after a year and a half of work and experimentation, the restaurant earned its first Michelin star. He came back to Rome to helm his own restaurant, and on November 8, 2022—just months after opening—Pulejo was awarded a Michelin star of its own, recognising the high quality of its cooking.

The kitchen’s approach is described as “emotive cuisine”: an intense focus on raw ingredients, a tactile sensitivity, and a deep search for the best produce through a carefully built network of small suppliers. Chef Puleio describes his process as a constant search for new ideas and pairings, always guided by the memory of his past. He is supported in the kitchen by Vincenzo Tufano and Tommaso Salvati, a young, quietly driven team that shares his vision of a restaurant built on identity, research, and passion.

The result is Italian contemporary cooking that feels both personal and precise—a restaurant that earned its star by staying true to its name.