Nuova Roma

Where the Road Slows Down: Dining at Nuova Roma

On the stretch of road connecting Calderino to Sasso Marconi, there is a particular kind of trattoria that Bologna's hinterland has always produced: unhurried, unpretentious, and grounded in a culinary tradition that measures itself against the kitchen, not the trend cycle. Nuova Roma sits squarely in that category. The terrace opens to the passing countryside in summer, the car park outside handles the lunch crowd that drives out from Bologna on weekends, and inside, the meal follows a pacing that feels inherited rather than designed. You arrive, you sit, you eat in sequence, and the portions make clear that the kitchen is not interested in restraint for its own sake.

That dining rhythm, the kind enforced by a long-established family kitchen rather than a tasting-menu format, is itself a statement about what Emilian trattoria culture has always prioritised: generosity as hospitality, and continuity as quality signal. Nuova Roma earned its Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2025, a distinction Michelin awards to restaurants that deliver notably good cooking at moderate prices. In Emilia Romagna, that credential carries specific weight: the region sets a demanding baseline, and a Bib Gourmand here is assessed against some of the most technically accomplished regional cooking in Italy.

Emilian Tradition on the Plate

Emilia Romagna's culinary identity is not built on subtlety of flavour alone. It is built on technique, on the hours required to roll pasta thin enough to hold a filling without becoming doughy, on the patience of a proper ragù, on the specific heat of a wood-fired grill that produces a crust no gas burner replicates. Nuova Roma's kitchen works within that framework without apology. Fresh pasta is a house speciality, which in this region means housemade, not just freshly cooked, and the distinction matters considerably.

The wood-fired grill is another anchor. Grilling over wood rather than gas is a commitment that affects both the sourcing of fuel and the management of temperature across a service, and restaurants that maintain it in a period when gas is cheaper and more controllable are making a deliberate choice about flavour. The Bolognese cutlet, cotoletta alla bolognese, rounds out the picture: a breaded veal or pork cutlet finished with ham and Parmigiano Reggiano, it is one of the region's most specific dishes, less widely exported than its Milanese counterpart and more firmly tied to local identity. Encountering it on a menu that treats it as a classic rather than a curiosity is part of what makes a house like Nuova Roma a useful record of where Emilian cooking actually lives.

For context on how the same regional tradition scales upward in ambition and price, Arnaldo - Clinica Gastronomica in Rubiera and Osteria del Viandante in Rubiera both work within Emilian culinary frameworks at different register points. And at the far end of the ambition spectrum, Osteria Francescana in Modena treats the same regional inheritance as raw material for progressive reinterpretation rather than direct preservation.

The Wine List and the Regional Argument

Emilia Romagna's wine production does not command the international profile of Piedmont or Tuscany, but it has a coherent regional identity anchored in Sangiovese di Romagna, Albana, Pignoletto, and Lambrusco in its less carbonated, more serious expressions. A wine list with a natural focus on regional labels, as Nuova Roma's is described, is a position rather than a default: it stakes the meal's beverage narrative to the same geography as the food, which in Emilia makes considerable sense. Lambrusco alongside cured meats and fresh pasta is not a pairing of convenience; it is a historically documented combination that the region's producers have been refining for generations.

The comprehensiveness of the list beyond regional labels means the kitchen's preferences don't preclude a broader exploration, but the editorial direction is clear. For those building a longer itinerary around Italian wine and dining, Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence represents the benchmark for cellar depth in the Italian context, while Dal Pescatore in Runate demonstrates how regional identity and serious wine programs can coexist at the highest price tier.

Reading the Room: Pace, Format, and Expectations

A meal at Nuova Roma follows the conventions of a properly run Italian family restaurant: courses arrive in sequence, the kitchen produces in quantity, and the evening is not structured around a fixed menu or a predetermined endpoint. That format rewards a certain kind of diner, one who arrives without a fixed schedule, orders according to appetite rather than the desire to sample widely, and treats the meal as the event rather than the prelude to something else.

The generous portions noted in the Michelin description have a practical implication: ordering a full run of courses, antipasto through secondo, is a commitment that not every table needs to make. The fresh pasta as a main, followed by a grilled secondo, is the logic the kitchen appears to be built around. The terrace, available in summer, adds a spatial dimension that suits a longer meal in warm weather, and the car park resolves the practical question of how to arrive if you are travelling from Bologna without a specific plan around public transport.

Within Sasso Marconi's own dining options, Nuova Roma sits in a different register from Casa Mazzucchelli, which operates with a creative approach, and alongside Antica Trattoria la Grotta dal 1918, which shares the town's longer-established traditional trattoria category. See our full Sasso Marconi restaurants guide for the complete picture across the area.

Planning Your Visit

Nuova Roma is at Via Olivetta, 87, 40037 Sasso Marconi, on the road between Calderino and Sasso Marconi in the Bologna province. The single-euro price tier places this among the most accessible Michelin-recognised restaurants in Emilia Romagna, and Google review data across 846 ratings settles at 4.2, which for a volume this high reflects consistent execution rather than a sample of enthusiasts. Booking ahead is advisable for weekend lunch, when the combination of a Bib Gourmand recognition and a regional following can fill the room early. The summer terrace adds capacity, but tables there may also go quickly in good weather.

For those building a wider itinerary around the area, our Sasso Marconi hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the broader options in the area. For those extending the trip into the higher end of Italian dining, Le Calandre in Rubano, Piazza Duomo in Alba, Uliassi in Senigallia, Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone, Enrico Bartolini in Milan, and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico each represent distinct expressions of what Italian cooking can do at a different scale of ambition and investment.