And if you go for lunch and it’s a balmy Italian day you can have that table taken outside to indulge the air and look over surrounding olive groves, vineyards and distant mountains.

While for dinner indoors in the evening, you will be welcomed by a driveway of flickering candles illuminating the ruins of an ancient villa in grounds once the home of Roman lyric poet Horace, back in the time of Emperor Augustus (27BC-14AD.)

Named Solo Per Due – meaning Just For Two – you’ll find this restaurant at a tiny place called Vacone (pop 250) an hour north of Rome. And when you book you will be asked your preferences in food so that a lip-smacking menu can be created just for you, and they’ll even ask your preferences in background music as well.

Plus you will be welcomed on arrival by one of the co-owners, while for privacy your waiter will retreat to the shadows, responding to your summoning with a little silver bell.

The price for lunch or dinner at this “world’s smallest restaurant” is €250 per person, including select wines and aperitifs. That’s around AU$390 which is not exactly the cheapest, but, hey, this is a “world’s only” and you’ll have it to yourselves for a very special occasion that few others have experienced.

Check it out further on www.soloperdue.it.