With lines of small bars and restaurants, Shinjuku Sanchome is a fun place for bar hopping. The area has few restaurants where you can relax and enjoy a meal, but "Ristorane Piumaggio" opened here in October 2015. Get off the elevator on the 4th floor, and you’ll step into an extraordinary space that will make you forget the hustle and bustle of the busy neighborhood. Tables covered with pure white cloths in a dignified, black-themed interior create a chic, mature mood.
Having loved cooking since he was a small child, Chef Takahiro Mitsui took evening classes at a vocational school while working an office job. This hard worker then apprenticed at an Italian restaurant in the city for five years and also gained experience in Italy.
Chef Mitsui bases his dishes on regional Italian cuisine but has a knack for adding an original touch with Japanese style arrangements. Using select ingredients like Tsukiji fish and vegetables, truffles and Basque pork, and Challans duck, the Chef creates dishes meeting his standards for appearance, fragrance, and taste by choosing the optimal cooking method for each ingredient, such as low-temperature cooking or vacuum cooking.
For example, “wild boar stracotto (sukiyaki style)” is made from stewed boar meat and greens fried in porcini mushroom broth. Even though it contains no sugar or soy sauce, its gentle, healing taste seems somehow Japanese. “I vary the tempo of my courses with sour, bitter, and sweet tastes so customers get excited wondering what will come next,” says Chef Mitsui. Because the chef values seasonal ingredients, the menu changes weekly or monthly so you can enjoy new flavors with each visit.
In addition, to counter seats providing a close-up view of the chef at work, the restaurant also has booths and individual rooms for privacy. As one of Shinjuku’s few Italian restaurants with private rooms, this special hideaway is often used for entertaining, dates, and proposals.
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* The availability of an English version of this page does not guarantee that the restaurant can provide services in English unless otherwise stated. Please be aware that, even if stated, there may still be days when English speaking staff are unavailable.
【Access】
■A 2-minute walk from Shinjuku San-chome Station (Exit B2), Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line and Toei Shinjuku Line
