ristorazione — Hessigkofen · Canton Solothurn
In the Bucheggberg district of Solothurn, in Hessigkofen, Taverna Romana has been bringing Italian cuisine to the heart of the Swiss countryside since 2011. Thirteen Gault Millau points tell of a path built with method and continuity, season after season, balancing fidelity to tradition with a measured openness to the Meola family's creativity.
The name draws on the experience of Mariana and Daniel Meola, who grew up among family restaurants in Rome, Berlin and Twann. That layered training shows from the very entrance: a welcome that leaves nothing to chance, where every detail — from the care of the spaces to the precise gesture of those who greet you — betrays years of genuine practice and time spent at truly demanding tables.
Three rooms — Cesare, Faustina and Augustus — seat between ten and eighty guests for lunches, dinners and bespoke banquets. In summer, the terraces extend conviviality outdoors, with tables looking out onto the quiet green of the Bucheggberg. Each space adapts to the occasion with tailored menus, a calibrated pace and the kind of attention to detail that reviewers consistently praise.
In the kitchen, tradition — fresh pasta, pizza, meat dishes — coexists with creativity applied to seafood specialities, with fresh ingredients brought to the table according to the season. Whenever possible, produce is sourced from local producers in the region. It is a cuisine that never abandons its Italian roots, yet reinterprets them with the precision of those who chose this craft as a calling.
At the finish line, the dish. Behind every pairing stands Mariana Meola, a certified sommelier for wines and spirits: a cellar rated 17 points by Weinwisser and more than fifty Italian grappas.
