LUDO Dine & Vibe

Let’s start with the name: LUDO recalls the Latin ludus, meaning game, but also “ludoteca” (playroom), understood as a space for experimentation, expressive freedom, and conscious lightness. It is from here that the narrative of the new dining club at nhow Roma takes shape: a stimulating, ironic, and intentionally unconventional place, where the evening is built layer upon layer, without rigidity. After all, the spirit is the same as the hotel that hosts it—a creative and unconventional address on the Roman scene. If you are lucky enough to stay here, look for the small hidden game room among the common areas, with table football and 80s video games in a nostalgic arcade atmosphere: it is a detail that perfectly describes the project’s attitude. LUDO Dine & Vibe becomes its natural extension in a food & nightlife key, bringing that same playful spirit into the evening dimension.

So, just to stay in a fun and unconventional mood, let’s try to tell its story using a simple and universal scheme: the 5 Ws of journalism—the basic questions used to build every news story—and turn them into a sort of game to dive into the concept and understand its identity.

Who. LUDO Dine & Vibe was born under the direction of nhow Roma and fits into the brand’s lifestyle vision. “LUDO represents a key project within nhow Roma, because it fully embodies our idea of open and international lifestyle hospitality,” commented Gino Giacchetti, General Manager of nhow Roma. “We wanted to create a space capable of speaking to a cosmopolitan audience, offering an experience that naturally combines gastronomy, mixology, and entertainment. LUDO was born to become a landmark of the Roman scene, with a constant gaze toward great international capitals.”

What. LUDO Dine & Vibeis a dining club: you enter for an aperitivo, stay for dinner, and end up dancing. The cuisine looks to the Mediterranean and Southern Italy with a contemporary twist, featuring Roman pinsa with marinated beef carpaccio and puntarelle, vitello tonnato, timballo ‘ncasciato, eggplant parmigiana, Roman-style artichokes, and a tomahawk designed for sharing. The table also hosts the Olive Oil Experience, a tasting of four Italian labels served with fresh bread—a simple gesture that highlights our country’s great raw materials.

The drink list also unfolds along the theme of Italian identity, through a careful selection of national spirits enhanced with technique and precision: artisanal gins, bitters, vermouths, and amari are featured in bold signature cocktails alongside balanced classics, but mezcal also finds its place as a touch of contamination. Drinks are modulated according to the time of night: fresher for the aperitivo, more structured after dinner, always in tune with the natural flow of the venue’s music and energy.

Where. LUDO is located on Corso d’Italia, between Villa Borghese and Via Veneto, inside the creative and provocative 4-star hotel nhow Roma. The design works through contrasts: pop elements and graphic details interact with refined materials, mirrored surfaces, and metal inserts that amplify the light. The bar counter, dramatic and central, is designed as a visual and social hub, a gathering point around which the entire evening revolves. The lights are dynamic, calibrated to transform the atmosphere as the hours pass: softer and more diffused for the aperitivo, sharper and more immersive after dinner. The furniture layout also follows this fluid logic, with tables that encourage conviviality and a space that progressively opens up to movement and music, naturally accompanying the transition from dining to clubbing.

When. LUDO Dine & Vibe marks the rhythm of the entire evening, from aperitivo to late night, with a structured but constantly updated musical programming. Resident DJs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, more experimental selections on Thursdays, live bands on Fridays, and DJ sets on Saturdays with a focus on vinyl. Among the formats on the calendar is “Dischi spiegati con Federico Gallotti,” a live DJ set and podcast that weaves together music and storytelling. International performers like Matze Sampler take turns at the console, with live sets built in real-time using guitar and modular synthesizers, alongside Pellegrino, founder of Early Sounds Recordings and a key figure in the new Mediterranean sound. The schedule, evolving and revealed over time, includes several upcoming appointments with artists from the contemporary scene.

Why. To intercept a more fluid, transversal, and international urban sociality. LUDO introduces a format into Roman nightlife that integrates gastronomy, mixology, and entertainment into a contemporary experience designed for a dynamic and cosmopolitan audience. After dinner, the rhythm picks up, the tables lighten, people stand up, and stay to dance. The dining club thus evolves into a more nocturnal and immersive dimension, following a simple rule: have fun, without rigid patterns but with a clear identity.