Let yourself be won over by our meat selection: fine cuts, perfectly matured to bring out their intense flavour and tender texture. From the sea, fresh fish, arrive daily ready to be transformed into gourmet dishes. And to accompany each course, we have chosen a wine list that tells stories of territory and passion.
Raffaele Lenti's kitchen
Born in Naples in 1977, trained in the trattorias and seafood restaurants of his home area, then shaped in Rome in the kitchens of luxury hotels. That is where his idea of cooking comes from: Mediterranean at the root, contemporary in execution. Read his story.
A different idea of cooking in Gaeta
Gaeta has a long tradition of seafood cooking, and Waves does not simply repeat it. Lenti works the Mediterranean with a fine-dining approach — attention to cooking times, to texture, to how a plate reaches the table — without drifting away from flavors people recognize. The fish comes from theFormia auctiona few kilometers up the coast: most of it is caught in the gulf, and it changes with what the sea gives that day. The menu follows the seasons for the same reason. How we work with fish.
The chef beyond the restaurant
Raffaele Lenti is the resident chef on Geo , on Italy's Rai 3, and the author of Uno chef a casa vostra ("A Chef in Your Home"), a book of creative menus designed to be within everyone's reach. It is the same idea he brings to the kitchen: quality that should not be for the few.
The steakhouse: the Maturmeat and the Josper
At the far end of the dining room, side by side: the glass-fronted aging cabinet and the charcoal oven. First you look at the beef, then you eat it.
The Maturmeat®
It is a patented Stagionello unit, and it is not a fridge. A fridge only chills. The Maturmeat governs the microclimate — temperature, humidity, air flow — to support dry aging: the natural process in which the meat's own enzymes break down proteins and make it more tender and more flavorful. No additives, only time and controlled conditions.
Inside, the cuts are not all at the same stage: some have been resting for a few weeks, others for months. The longer the beef ages, the bolder the flavor.
Which means the degree of aging is yours to choose. Keeping the cabinet in full view is exactly the point: look at what is there — the fat, the color, the thickness — and decide which cut you want and how far aged. If you're unsure, just ask — someone will talk you through it.
The Josper
It comes from Spain and is a cross between a grill and an oven. The chamber is closed: the charcoal works at temperatures an open fire cannot reach, and the heat surrounds the cut from every side instead of hitting it only from below. The surface caramelizes in seconds and holds the juices inside, where the meat keeps cooking slowly. The smoke enters the fiber without masking it.
The Josper takes beef only: T-bone, rib steak, tomahawk, heifer striploin. Fish and vegetables are cooked other ways, because they deserve other ways.
The cuts change with the best the market offers. The most frequent:
United States — T-bone
Spain — rib steak and T-bone
Germany — rib steak and T-bone
Croatia — tomahawk
Italy — heifer striploin
The cellar
500 wines, from local wines to Champagne and the great international names: one of the deepest lists in the area. Ask for it at your table and we will build the pairing together.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a T-bone and a fiorentina?
The T-bone is a cut: the T-shaped bone that separates the fillet from the striploin. A fiorentina is a T-bone from Italian Chianina cattle. At Waves we serve T-bones from several origins — United States, Spain, Germany — chosen on what the market is doing best at the time. The Italian cut on our list is heifer: a young female that has never calved, prized here for its marbling and tenderness.
How long is your beef aged?
It depends on the cut you choose. The Maturmeat holds beef at different stages at the same time, from a few weeks to several months: you can see them and decide. The longer the beef ages, the bolder the flavor.
What's the difference between dry aging and wet aging?
Wet aging happens in vacuum packaging: the beef tenderizes but loses nothing and gains little in flavor. Dry aging happens in open air under controlled temperature, humidity and air flow — the way the Maturmeat works. The beef loses moisture and concentrates, which is where the depth of flavor comes from. Everything we serve from the cabinet is dry aged.
Is only beef cooked in the Josper?
Yes. The Josper is reserved for beef. Fish and vegetables are cooked other ways.
