Tuna Pizza in the Eternal City? Akira Back’s Rome Debut Is the Most Daring New Table in Town
Chef Akira Back opens his first Rome restaurant, with tuna pizza, Wagyu tacos, the nine-course NAZO 9, and a passage to the Fontana del Mosè.
In a city where pizza is practically a sacrament, Akira Back is serving his with bluefin tuna and white truffle oil. The Seoul-born chef, a former professional snowboarder with 29 restaurants around the world, has opened Akira Back Rome, his first restaurant in the Eternal City: a 72-seat dining room in the historic Esquilino district, at The St. Regis Rome, serving modern Japanese cooking with Korean accents, from the famous AB Tuna Pizza and Wagyu Tacos to NAZO 9, a nine-course tableside showcase that keeps its surprises close to the chest, until 1 a.m.
Rome has had more than two millennia to perfect the memorable evening. Akira Back is offering his own interpretation.
Just maybe not the kind of pizza you came to Rome expecting.
Photo Credit: St. Regis Rome
The Menu: Pizza, Tacos and a Little Theater
The AB Tuna Pizza layers bluefin tuna, umami aioli, micro shiso and white truffle oil over a crisp base. It’s one of Back’s best-known creations and the perfect introduction to a menu that treats Japanese technique as a starting point for something deeply personal. The Wagyu Tacos follow the same playful logic, while the gloriously named Brother From Another Mother Roll piles unagi, anago tempura, foie gras and ponzu aioli into one decadent bite.
Beyond the signatures, there’s an extensive list of sushi, sashimi and signature rolls, with black truffle, Alaskan king crab and Wagyu beef woven throughout. Order à la carte, or put the evening in the kitchen’s hands with a tasting menu.
Photo Credit: St. Regis Rome
For the truly adventurous, there’s NAZO 9, the restaurant’s most theatrical proposition: nine chef-selected creations presented tableside, with unexpected ingredients and bold combinations driving each reveal. It’s Back’s appetite for adventure on a plate, and the order to make if you like a little suspense with your supper.
As the night goes on, the mood turns livelier. Desserts, sake and ambient music carry the evening forward, and with the kitchen open until 1 a.m., dinner can easily become the whole night.
Photo Credit: St. Regis Rome
The Room: Hidden Portals in the Eternal City
Conceived by House of Black, part of Blacksheep Group, the interiors play on the idea of “Hidden Portals within the Eternal City,” a sequence of connected spaces that unfold one after another. Tobacco, gold and rust tones meet velvet furnishings in powder blue, forest green and amaranth, and textured glass nods to the stained-glass windows of Rome’s historic cathedrals.
Custom furniture by Italian artisans grounds the room in local craftsmanship, while artworks by Young Hee Back, the chef’s mother, add a lovely, intimate layer of his own story. Upstairs, a dramatic open kitchen frames the chefs at work under theatrical lighting, and even the uniforms, designed with Katia Minniti of Coromandel, blend Western tailoring with Japanese details in midnight blue, black, dark brown and burgundy.
Photo Credit: St. Regis Rome
The approach is part of the magic. The restaurant has its own entrance on Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, framed by jasmine, and a private passageway leading to the Fontana del Mosè, part of the Acquedotto Felice commissioned by Pope Sixtus V in 1587. In Rome, even the walk to dinner comes with a Renaissance backstory.
It’s also a fitting new chapter for an address with serious culinary pedigree: when the hotel opened as the Grand Hotel in 1894, César Ritz hosted the inaugural dinner and Auguste Escoffier cooked all 16 courses. More than a century later, a chef with a very different point of view is giving Rome something new to talk about. Book the NAZO 9, and don’t plan on an early night.
Haute Living Verdict: Rome’s most daring new table, and its best late-night dinner. Order the tuna pizza, then surrender to NAZO 9.
Akira Back Rome at The St. Regis Rome is open Tuesday through Saturday, 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Entrance on Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando.
Photo Credit: St. Regis Rome
Photo Credit: St. Regis Rome
Photo Credit: St. Regis Rome
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the AB Tuna Pizza?
Akira Back's signature dish: bluefin tuna, umami aioli, micro shiso and white truffle oil on a crisp base.
What is NAZO 9 at Akira Back?
A theatrical tableside experience of nine chef-selected creations built around bold combinations and unexpected ingredients.
How many restaurants does Akira Back have?
Rome joins a portfolio of 29 Akira Back locations worldwide, including Paris, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore and Toronto, with 10 more planned over the next two years.
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