Coppia in Willoughby Makes Fine Dining Feel Like an Occasion Again

Coppia isn’t a restaurant you visit on a whim. It doesn’t come up in one of those spur-of-the-moment “Where should we go tonight?” dinner discussions. No, everything about the dining experience at the Willoughby eatery is intentional and thoughtfully planned — including your decision to visit.

“Our restaurant may not appeal to someone just looking for a quick snack and to go home,” says chef Talia Trovato, who co-owns Coppia with her wife, chef Hedy Trovato. “It appeals to people who love food, people who are excited by trying new things.”

Stake Your Claim
With 55 seats, Coppia fills up fast. Make reservations ahead of time, particularly for the exclusive chef’s table experience.

In other words, Coppia is centered as much on experience as it is on execution. It’s a place of deliberate, deluxe dining — a place for celebrating, for creating formative memories through food. 

All that makes even more sense given that both chefs got their culinary starts in a place renowned for its immersive experiences: Disney World. The Trovatos met while working in fine dining at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, which is home to Victoria and Albert’s — the only theme park-based restaurant in the U.S. to earn a Michelin star.

“Being in that fine dining environment for many years was something that challenged me and kept me growing as a chef,” says Hedy. “I never stopped learning, never stopped thinking of new ideas and new ways of doing things.”

First Taste

What Abuela’s Having ($13) nods to Hedy’s Venezuelan heritage with three cornmeal arepitas, a perfect amuse-bouche.

Coppia first opened in Chesterland in 2022 near the International Culinary Arts and Sciences Institute, which Talia attended. They quickly outgrew the 35-seat restaurant. In 2025, after winning the Food Network show Chopped, the chefs relocated to Willoughby in a new building that also houses the Legends Aviation Museum. Lost Nation Sports Park sits on the same campus. 

Don’t let the word “airport” trick you into thinking of pre-flight fare, nor should the Trovatos’ history with “The Mouse”  conjure images of cartoonish presentations. Both chefs are masters of the understated, eschewing big shows of creativity in favor of measured restraint.

Coppia, which is Italian for “pair,” is the embodiment of that shared approach, evident in everything from the decor (clean lines, neutral colors) to the building itself — quiet and peaceful, glowing like a glass beacon on Lost Nation Road.

RELATED: Chopped Champions Hedy and Talia Trovato Bring Coppia to Willoughby

“It’s a very calm restaurant,” Talia says. “We like to present it as a sanctuary.” 

Coppia offers four menus. The signature and seasonal menus, both a la carte, are curated to make every dish a star. The Steak Bravo ($60), a staple that the chefs have long considered a signature, features an 8-ounce grass-fed filet mignon piled high with sweet onions and greens, atop a pillow of creamy Parmesan risotto. The Fur Alice ($35), named for their daughter, offers tiny hazelnut ricotta gnocchi in a luscious Comte cheese-and-spinach cream sauce, with a sprinkling of maize flour for crunch. The Nectar of the Gods ($13) might be the most perfectly balanced salad you’ve ever savored — a divine marriage of peppery arugula, creamy burrata, sugared pecans and thinly sliced pear.

All told, the Trovatos specialize in rich, indulgent dishes that somehow manage to retain an airiness and elegance that would be lost to heavier-handed chefs.

“Every menu we put out inches toward what inspires us, how we want to be perceived as chefs,” Talia muses. “It’s comfort food made into seasonally inspired fine dining.”

READ MORE: Coppia’s Chef Duo Hedy and Talia Trovato To Compete in "Chopped" Special Series Finale

While the chefs put their all into each dish, they have a particular passion for tasting menus. Coppia offers two prix-fixe experiences: a seasonal chefs’ tasting menu, available at any dinner service ($125 per person), and the chefs’ table menu, only available over the weekend via private bookings ($200 per person, plus a $100-per-table booking fee).

“Tasting menus inspire us the most (because) we’re able to tell everything we want to tell,” Talia says. “We even write poems or stories to the guests at our chef’s table, so they start with a story about where we’re going to be taking them with the food.”

The current tasting menu opens with a dish so beautiful it could be lifted from the pages of a coffee table book: thin folds of pine-cured Norwegian salmon with deep purple beets, milky stracciatella and glossy globes of roe. As the meal continues, each plate more stunning than the next, both chefs’ favorite proteins take a turn in the spotlight: light and airy scallops from Talia (in this case, rosemary-smoked with hazelnuts and “snow,” made from buttermilk and Nigori sake) and heavier, classic dishes like duck breast and venison from Hedy. Each course is paired with wine, which is included in the price of the chef’s table. Hedy became a certified sommelier four years ago and approaches each grouping with care.

“Food and wine pairing is a true art, in my opinion,” she says. “When they’re paired right, both the food and the wine taste so different than either does on its own.”

Ask For Help

 Not a wine connoisseur? Coppia’s highly trained staff can guide you to the perfect pairing for any dish and any taste.

And whatever you do, don’t even think about skipping dessert — or “last impressions,” as the menu dubs its offerings from pastry chef Kevin Schlappal. Like the Trovatos, he is a designer of edible oeuvres, creating standouts like the Caffè Notte ($15), a fluffy chocolate souffle served with Chantilly cream and toffee sauce. Because it takes 20 minutes to perfect, it must be ordered early in the meal so it can arrive at your table in a timely fashion. But there’s no rush. Coppia is committed to the art of unhurried, take-your-time dining.

You could say it’s fancy, sure — because it is. More than that, though, it’s special. And that feeling is only compounded by the collection of pristine, privately owned aircraft visible through the dining room windows. Just steps away from your meal, the aviation museum’s hangar displays such vintage gems as the “Lady B,” a 1944 military craft-turned-racing plane, and a 1938 monoplane that is one of less than 50 of its kind ever made.

The Trovatos see the aircraft as further inspiration for their craft — just another element of beauty and prestige that makes the Coppia experience everything it is.

“When you’re surrounded by such hallmark pieces, you want to make your mark, too,” Talia says. “These aircraft are one of a kind, they’re beautiful, they’re timeless. And we hope people feel the same about our food.”

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