Two veteran cooks open a 15-seat restaurant inside a private home near Bologna

In San Giorgio di Piano, a town north of Bologna, two cooks with long experience in Italian restaurants are opening their own model of hospitality inside a private home. The project, called Comfort Home Restaurant, has been presented as a reservation-only dining space built into the home of chef Federico Pettazzoni, with Mario Zamboni working beside him in the kitchen.

According to the organizers, the idea was developed in 2024 from the two men’s shared interest in cooking, hospitality and the use of artisanal ingredients. Rather than opening a conventional restaurant, they chose to work in a domestic setting and to limit the size of the dining room to 15 guests. The aim, they said, is to offer a more personal format, with menus created for each booking and service designed around the preferences of the group.

The project arrives at a time when small-format dining, chef-run spaces and private hospitality models continue to expand in Italy, especially around cities with strong culinary identities such as Bologna. In this case, the setting is central to the concept. Part of Pettazzoni’s house has been converted into what the restaurant describes as a creative and experimental kitchen laboratory, along with a dining room intended to reproduce the warmth of a home while maintaining professional service standards.

Pettazzoni, who was born in Bologna, said his background has been shaped by a long interest in small food producers and traditional ingredients. The material distributed for the presentation says he worked at San Domenico in Imola, the Michelin-starred restaurant known as one of the region’s established fine dining addresses, after founding a separate project called Giro di Vite in 2009 in Bologna. Zamboni, also from the Bologna area and from a family with Sicilian roots, began cooking professionally in Valencia, Spain, in 2004 before returning to Italy and working in several restaurants in and around Bologna.

Their joint venture is centered on a phrase they use as a guiding principle: “good, clean and fair dishes.” The wording echoes values associated with ingredient quality, environmental care and fair production. In practical terms, the restaurant says this means cooking to order rather than using precooked foods, working with fresh ingredients and building relationships with local farmers, livestock breeders and winemakers.

The kitchen intends to combine family traditions with both older and modern cooking techniques. One of the tools given a prominent role is the kamado, a ceramic charcoal cooking system used for grilling, roasting and smoking. The chefs say they value it for the even heat and the flavor it can give food cooked over embers. The emphasis on fire cooking places the restaurant within a broader movement in European dining, where wood, charcoal and other live-fire methods are again taking a larger role in both rustic and refined kitchens.

Wine is also presented as a key part of the identity of the house. Comfort Home Restaurant says it is building a sustainable cellar with bottles selected from small producers whose work reflects respect for land and environment. The idea is to keep the wine list aligned with the food menu rather than treating it as a separate offering. No number of labels, price range or specific producers were released in the presentation material.

The decision to work only by reservation gives the chefs flexibility, but it also places the restaurant in a niche segment of the market. Personalized menus require advance planning, direct communication with guests and a supply chain able to respond to different requests without sacrificing consistency. For diners, the format can provide a more intimate experience than a standard dining room. For operators, it can lower volume while increasing the importance of each service.

The Bologna area is already one of Italy’s strongest food destinations, with visitors drawn by fresh pasta, cured meats, cheeses and a dense network of trattorias, markets and high-end kitchens. By locating the project just outside the city, in San Giorgio di Piano, Pettazzoni and Zamboni are positioning themselves close to that culinary territory while also leaning on a quieter, residential setting. That choice may appeal to diners looking for destination meals that feel more private than urban restaurant service.

What distinguishes the project most clearly is its use of the house itself as both setting and message. The restaurant’s presentation repeatedly frames the place not simply as a venue, but as a home opened to guests. That language reflects a wider shift in dining culture, where some chefs are moving away from larger dining rooms and toward formats that blur the line between domestic space and commercial hospitality.

The operators say the space can also be used for tailor-made events, though they have not released further details about programming, prices or service schedules beyond the reservation-only structure. The dining room’s small scale suggests that private celebrations, small business gatherings and curated tasting events could become an important part of the business model.

For now, Comfort Home Restaurant is introducing itself as a compact, chef-led address built on local sourcing, custom menus and close contact with guests. In a region where food traditions carry both cultural and economic weight, the project is entering the market with a format that depends less on size than on trust, personal attention and the appeal of eating in someone’s home under restaurant standards.