Senigallia is a picturesque, modest port town in the east Italian region of Marche. This small seaside resort is popular with visiting Italian families thanks to the stunning Spiaggia di Velluto (the ‘velvet beach’) that stretches across 13km of pristine coastline. The town enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a gourmet destination and is home to a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, including chef Mauro Uliassi’s eponymously named restaurant.

Situated on the beach and right by the harbour of Senigallia, Uliassi first opened in 1990 as a family-run beach café. After three renovations over twenty years, Uliassi has come a long way as a restaurant and now holds three Michelin stars. The interior is contemporary and spacious and includes designer furniture and colourful mosaics, as well as breathtaking views of the Adriatic sea. Light and airy, the restaurant makes the most of its location on the beach, with azure blue and coral red decorations hinting to the sea just outside. Glass artworks and mirrors further amplify the play of light throughout the building and hint at the velvet, white sands outside.

Despite Uliassi’s transformation from café to high-end dining, it remains very much a family affair, with Mauro’s sister Catia as the front of house manager and his son Filippo as the restaurant’s sommelier. Together they have created an ambitious dining experience, where the menu is completely reinvented every year during the restaurant's annual extended closure. Mauro’s food is forward-thinking, adventurous and sophisticated with interesting flavour combinations found throughout the menu, such as a dessert of strawberries and cardamom. With direct access to the boats delivering fresh shellfish and fish each morning from the Adriatic, it is not surprising that the restaurant primarily has a seafood focus. Diners may order à la carte from the raw fish menu or choose from a variety of tasting menus, of which one is specifically designed to showcase the chef's signature dishes.