In Viaggio - Claudio Melis

The story

In Viaggio - Claudio Melis: Michelin-Starred Contemporary Restaurant in Merano

A journey on a plate

The name In Viaggio means “on a journey,” and the experience at Claudio Melis’s restaurant in Merano lives up to that promise. As the chef explains, his food is “a fragment of conversation, a detail glimpsed from the corner of your eye as the train disappears over the horizon.” The nine-course tasting menu he crafts is a sensory narrative, binding past, present and future into a single, immersive meal.

The restaurant is located inside the historic Hotel Villa Irma, in the quiet Maia Alta district of Merano. Guests are welcomed from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, Wednesday through Saturday, and led downstairs to a dining room that feels both intimate and unhurried. The setting matches the chef’s philosophy: a respect for ingredients and the hands that grew them, and a commitment to “circular” cooking that extends well-being to every aspect of the experience.

Cuisine that remembers

Melis’s contemporary cooking starts with the land. He works with carefully selected Italian and regional produce, treating each element with “ethics and respect.” The current menu changes with the seasons, but dishes such as Sedano rapa | fondo ristretto | senape | erbe | fiori (celery root, reduced stock, mustard, herbs, flowers) and Fusilloni artigianali | crescioni | pesce d’acqua dolce | burro affumicato (artisanal fusilloni, watercress, freshwater fish, smoked butter) reveal a kitchen that balances precision with deep flavour. The wine list, chosen with an eye for small producers who speak the “dialect of their land,” offers pairings that complement the meal without following fashion.

A Michelin star and a philosophy

In 2026, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star, a recognition of the high quality cooking that Melis brings to the table. But the chef’s ambition is not just technique. He describes his food as “an ode to the ingredient,” an ongoing movement that both represents and defends its context. The tasting menu, offered in five-, seven- or nine-course formats, is a freehand composition – one that begins with the soil, the memory of a gesture, and the dedication of the people who produce what we eat.