Bel Sogno

When chef Yuji Nakamoto first arrived in Italy for culinary training, he wondered if he had never actually left Japan. With its similarly warm climate, gentle sunshine and rolling hills, it was the spitting image of his hometown in Miyazaki Prefecture. So naturally, he took to the kitchens there like a fish to water, rubbing shoulders with the chefs in Florence, Milan and Rome like he was one of their own. “Nakamoto, you can make pasta even better than we can,” they would tell him, laughing. “This is the true al dente!” Chef Nakamoto’s return to Japan solidified his resolve to marry his respect for his second home with the quality produce and meat of his prefecture of birth. Thus was ristorante Bel Sogno—the “great dream” in Italian—born in Nishi-Azabu, a 10-seat U-shaped counter kitchen of solid Italian stone on which he kneads homemade pasta right before his guests’ eyes. His masterful use of traditional techniques, particularly those of the Piedmont region, transforms top-quality Miyazaki ingredients into the perfect fusion of Japanese and Italian cuisines—a love letter to the two places in the world he loves the most.