Caesar Augustus

The Cliff-Edge Villa and What It Demands of the Cuisine

Approaching Anacapri from the port below, the island splits into two distinct personalities. The lower town serves the day-trip economy. Anacapri, higher up, is quieter, more residential, and considerably more serious about its relationship with the land. Caesar Augustus sits on the cliff edge of this upper village at Via Giuseppe Orlandi 4, where the drop to the Tyrrhenian Sea is vertiginous enough that the horizon appears to begin at the tablecloth. That physical fact shapes everything about how the property operates. When a setting commands this much attention, the food either earns its place or disappears into the scenery. Here, the kitchen's answer is rooted in the oldest logic of southern Italian cooking: olive oil.

The Campanian coast has produced some of Italy's most characterful extra virgin oils for centuries, pressed from cultivars like Ravece and Pisciottana that carry a peppery finish and a grassy intensity rarely found in the blended oils dominating northern European markets. In a cuisine defined by restraint and quality of base ingredient rather than complexity of technique, that foundation matters more than any single garnish or imported protein. At Caesar Augustus, the Italian Mediterranean register leans into this tradition, letting the oil do the structural work that butter or cream would do elsewhere.

Where Caesar Augustus Sits in Anacapri's Dining Tier

Anacapri's restaurant scene stratifies quickly. At the formal end, L'Olivo holds two Michelin stars and operates at €€€€ pricing, with Italian Contemporary cooking aimed squarely at the international luxury clientele staying on the island's highest-rated properties. Il Riccio operates in the same price bracket with a seafood focus and direct cliff-access drama of its own. Caesar Augustus occupies a different tier entirely, functioning as a family-run property rather than a chef-driven fine dining project. The peer comparison is closer to Da Gelsomina, the island's most respected regional-cuisine address, where the priority is cooking that tastes of the island rather than cooking that performs for critics.

This positioning is not a compromise. Italy's most deeply satisfying tables have often been family-run properties where the cuisine connects to a specific place and a specific pantry rather than to a seasonal tasting menu format. That is the tradition Caesar Augustus draws from, and it explains why its 4.8/5 rating across 583 Google reviews carries weight. That score, maintained across a substantial review base, signals consistency and guest alignment with what the property is actually offering: a cliff-edge setting with food that respects the southern Italian canon.

The Olive Oil Argument on the Plate

In Italian Mediterranean cooking, olive oil is not a finishing flourish. It is the cooking medium, the emulsifier, the dressing, and frequently the primary flavour in a dish. The great seafood preparations of the Campanian coast, from acqua pazza poached fish to simple grilled catch dressed at the table, depend on the oil carrying flavour that the protein and salt cannot supply alone. A cold-pressed Campanian extra virgin, with its characteristic bitterness and peppery throat-catch, changes the character of a dish entirely compared with a neutral refined oil. Kitchens that understand this use olive oil the way a French kitchen uses a properly made stock: as the invisible architecture that makes everything else taste better.

Chef Colin Henderson works within this framework at Caesar Augustus. The Italian Mediterranean designation positions the kitchen in the broader coastal tradition rather than in the more technically elaborate register occupied by Osteria Francescana in Modena or Le Calandre in Rubano. The comparison set for a family-run Anacapri property sits closer to the agrarian Italian tradition represented by Dal Pescatore in Runate, where decades of family continuity produce a cuisine that is coherent precisely because it has not been redesigned for each new critical cycle.

The Setting as an Active Ingredient

The cliff-edge villa format is not common in Italian hospitality. Properties with this kind of exposure to the sea tend to become destination dining propositions almost by default, because the view creates an experience that no indoor restaurant can replicate regardless of its technical achievements. The dining position at Caesar Augustus, looking out over the Tyrrhenian with the Faraglioni rocks in the far distance on a clear day, produces a quality of attention in guests that seasoned hospitality operators recognise as an asset worth protecting. The family-run structure helps preserve that character. Large hotel groups tend to standardise service rhythms and menu formats in ways that can flatten the specificity of a place. A family operation has more latitude to respond to the season, the morning's fish market, and the particular quality of oil from a trusted local producer.

Italy has a number of properties that perform this role with real distinction, from Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone along the same coastline to Piazza Duomo in Alba in Piedmont, where the connection between setting, producer relationships, and cuisine creates something more integrated than a tasting menu alone can achieve. Caesar Augustus operates in that spirit, without the Michelin architecture.

Planning a Visit

Access to Anacapri follows the island's own logic. From Naples Capodichino International Airport, the standard route is a taxi to the port of Naples followed by a hydrofoil to Capri, a journey covering roughly 37 kilometres from airport to island. From Napoli Centrale train station, the port is approximately 30 kilometres. Once on the island, Caesar Augustus offers shuttle bus service and private transfer arrangements on request, which is worth organising in advance given that Anacapri's narrow roads make ad hoc transport unreliable during peak season. The GPS coordinates for the property are 40.5585, 14.2230, and the address is Via Giuseppe Orlandi 4, 80071 Anacapri. The property holds Italian CIN code IT063004A1M8XWA47I and CIR code 15063004ALB0020.

For the broader Anacapri context, EP Club's guides cover the full range of options: our full Anacapri restaurants guide, our full Anacapri hotels guide, our full Anacapri bars guide, our full Anacapri wineries guide, and our full Anacapri experiences guide. For those comparing Italian dining options at a regional level, Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, and Enrico Bartolini in Milan represent the upper formal register across different Italian regions. At the international end of the spectrum, Le Bernardin in New York City and Atomix in New York City sit in a peer conversation about what serious cooking with a clear culinary identity looks like at the highest level.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I order at Caesar Augustus?

The Italian Mediterranean register points toward dishes where the quality of the base ingredient carries most of the weight. On the Campanian coast, that means seafood preparations that allow a quality local olive oil to function as the primary flavour agent alongside the catch of the day, and vegetable-forward antipasti where the oil's bitterness and grassy character provide the contrast that acid or spice would supply in other cuisines. Given the family-run structure and the property's connection to the island, dishes that reference the local fishing tradition and the Campanian olive oil heritage are likely to reflect the kitchen's strengths more accurately than anything that requires imported luxury ingredients. Specific current menu items are not available in EP Club's verified data, so it is worth checking directly with the property before visiting. Chef Colin Henderson oversees the kitchen, and the Italian Mediterranean designation signals a focus on regional coherence rather than technical elaboration.