ristorazione — Baden · Canton Argovia
In Baden, in the canton of Aargau, among the streets of the Swiss old town, an Italian name marked the local dining scene for years. Peppino was the presence of Salvatore Paonessa, an entrepreneur of Italian origin who brought the Made in Italy table to the heart of German-speaking Switzerland.
Weite Gasse 8: an address in the pedestrian heart of Baden that for years held an Italian door open. Crossing that threshold meant leaving German-speaking Switzerland for a moment and finding oneself in a different register, that of a dining experience run with the care and sense of hospitality belonging to Italian tradition. A restaurant that carried the name of its owner, Salvatore Paonessa, an Italian citizen.
A dining room is where dining takes concrete shape: the set table, the light, the rhythm of service. At Peppino, this space embodied Paonessa's choice to bring something precise to Baden — not just Italian food, but an Italian way of being at the table, with the attention to detail that distinguishes a restaurant run by someone who knows that tradition from the inside.
The kitchen is the heart of every Italian restaurant abroad: it is there that one decides how much authenticity survives the distance. Peppino had chosen to operate in Baden as a sole proprietorship, with Salvatore Paonessa directly at the helm — a structure that leaves little room for delegation and much for personal responsibility over what comes out of the kitchen.
A name, an address, an Italian story built in the canton of Aargau: the full page traces the portrait of Peppino and Salvatore Paonessa's path in Baden.
