Sustanza

Sustanza was one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had. Food, drinks, service, atmosphere, presentation blew us away. Both the restaurant and the downstairs bar are stunning, and we could not believe there weren’t more people here or that there are relatively few reviews. Sustanza feels like a michelin star restaurant, every detail is attended to. You have an option of tasting menu and a la carte, but the tasting menu is inspired, filled with unique, interesting, and delicious little bites and amuse-bouches. We ordered two cocktails, a san genarro which is inspired by the festival of san gennaro, the drink arrived inside a delicate orb of ice that we tapped apart with a small hammer. My girlfriend asked for something bespoke and was given a cocktail adorned with a thin handmade fruit leather. There was fermented butter topped with the ash of burned onion (delicious), a tomato dish made with dozens of different varieties if tomato, an oyster placed in a nest, and homemade tobacco-inspired gummies for desert. The 5 plate tasting menu was plenty for us, and wound up being a bit more with amuses bouches. The tasting menu seems to be customizable according to dietary restrictions. The staff was kind, attentive, and very well informed. Our waiter invited us to look around and gave us a brief history of the building. Downstairs at the bar the towering ceilings seem to be original, and give an ancient feel. There are antique pieces, vanities, bookshelves, globes, placed around, but the light washed walls give the bar a modern, not stuffy feel. Upstairs the walls are covered in vintage restored silk wallpapers of vibrant colors. Sustanza was an amazing highlight of our quick stopover in Naples and has my highest possible recommendation.

I was recommended by the owner of my BnB to try Scotto Jonno for cocktails. I loved the ambience and beautiful interiors so much I straightaway booked dinner at Sustanza. Chef Marco Ambrosino is an innovative alchemist and culinary artist in fermentation. He introduced unique and refreshing ways to treat his fresh ingredients, often using fermented barley water and Tabasco or fermented pasta water with unique herbs to elevate the flavors of his seafood and meats. It is definitely a homage to the traditional cooking of Romans in ancient times with his clever revival and use of garum, a fermented fish sauce. For me as an Asian familiar with the punchy tangy taste of fish sauce, this secret ingredient definitely gives his food such a special unique yet at the same time, familiar Umami flavors. This is truly the best fine dining experience I have had in the whole of Italy!

My new favorite restaurant in Naples. Ordered the five-course tasting menu and was delighted and surprised with each offering. The service was attentive without being overly precious or obnoxious, which has sometimes been my experience at innovative fine-dining establishments.

Sustanza was a highlight of our Amalfi / Naples trip. If you like pickles or fermented foods, this is the top restaurant in Naples and a MUST go. As others have said, the food was creative (i.e., adding anchovies to a macaroon or rose into seafood) and well executed. I had probably the best salad ever here. We had the 5 course and were totally full. It's a long meal, so would try to get an earlier slot and wouldn't plan anything after. fwiw, if this restaurant was in NYC (where we're from), it would probably charge 1.5-2.0x the cost and be very hard to get into, so go while they are still newer and word has not gotten out!

Beautiful place and great service. The food has clearly a lot of attention to detail with a clear focus on high quality ingredients. However it was too experimental for my palette, it seems they are really keen on techniques of fermentation and broths and oils , which they do well, but the flavor combinations was often clashing. The dessert was presented so well and beautifully but the flavor was very salty, more salty than I would like my French fries. We couldn’t finish it, it was very pungent The price is good value for money given all the attention put into the dishes and the space. The 5 course menu was filling in terms of quantity.

Some of the best food we've ever had! The staff is amazing and the food and wine pairings were an exploration of complex flavors put together so well. The desserts were very unusual and a perfect end to a perfect meal. We got to experience lots of new flavors over the course of the dinner from start to end - couldn't have asked for a better way to spend 4+ hours on a Friday evening.

Classy and chic experience. The food was delicious, inspiring and so interesting. So things I never tasted before, on of the best culinary experience I'd ever had. The atmosphere is so good, the place is beautifully designs. I my opinion, must have dinner when visiting Napoli

Really special place that’s a must try. Must be a little adventuresome but you’ll be treated with amazing flavors and combinations you’d never hear of in the USA. Really friendly and professional staff. Fresh, local ingredients done in inventive ways. Tresoria, the bar downstairs, is worth a stop too for the very extensive cocktail list. In front of the archaeological museum.