i. Biography
Tommaso Maio is the chef of Trattoria di Via Serra in Bologna, the restaurant he started with Flavio Benassi in 2001. Its story began in the courtyard of a village in the Modenese Apennines, then moved after ten years to the Bolognina district, where Maio’s kitchen remains tied to Emilian traditional cuisine. What began as a restaurant with a strong sense of place has, over time, settled into something even more grounded: a daily practice of cooking that feels rooted in the rhythms of the region and in the patient, exacting work of the stove.
The Path
Today, Tommaso Maio is chef of Trattoria di Via Serra, where he has been since 2001. That long continuity gives his work a steady, unmistakable cadence. The restaurant’s journey from the courtyard of a village in the Modenese Apennines to the Bolognina district is more than a change of address; it traces a path from one setting to another while carrying the same culinary language forward. In Bologna, Maio’s name remains attached to a place that has kept faith with its origins, even as it has made itself at home in a new neighborhood.
The Work Today
Maio has led the kitchen from 2001 to the present. His cooking is seasonal, with many ingredients sourced locally, and the pasta is handmade each day. That daily work gives the trattoria its pulse: the rolling, cutting, shaping, and filling are not side notes but the center of the operation, the quiet labor behind the meal. The result is a kitchen that speaks in the clear, unfussy dialect of Emilian traditional cuisine, where each plate reflects repetition refined over time rather than display for its own sake. The specialty is Emilian, traditional cuisine. That means the craft is not decorative: it is daily work, centered on ingredients, repetition, and the discipline of fresh pasta. At Trattoria di Via Serra, tradition is not treated as a backdrop or a slogan. It is the structure of the menu, the measure of the cooking, and the reason the restaurant’s identity feels so consistent. The emphasis on seasonality and local sourcing keeps the food close to the landscape around Bologna, while the handmade pasta anchors the kitchen in a recognizable regional hand.
Signature
Tommaso's signature dishes include tortellini in capon broth, tagliatelle al ragù, and tortelloni of ricotta with butter and sage. Each one carries the reassuring familiarity of Emilian cooking, yet their presence on the table also speaks to the discipline required to do such classics well. These are dishes that rely on balance and precision: the clarity of broth, the generosity of ragù, the soft richness of ricotta lifted by butter and sage. In Maio’s kitchen, they form part of a repertoire that is at once deeply traditional and steadily lived-in.
Acclaim
In Bologna, Maio’s name is tied to a trattoria that began in the Modenese Apennines and carried its Emilian cooking into Bolognina. That association is itself the measure of his standing: not a chef defined by spectacle, but by continuity, by a restaurant whose journey mirrors the steadiness of the cooking within it. The acclaim lies in the way the name, the place, and the cuisine have become inseparable over time.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Tommaso
What is Tommaso Maio's current role?
As of 2026, Tommaso Maio is chef.
What is Tommaso Maio known for?
Emilian, traditional cuisine.
