When Chef Yuji Nakamoto arrived in Italy for culinary training, he wondered if he had actually left Japan. With its warm climate, gentle sunshine, and rolling hills, it resembled his hometown in Miyazaki Prefecture.   

After working with chefs in Florence, Milan, and Rome, he returned to Japan and resolved to marry the techniques of his second home with the quality produce and meat of the prefecture where he was born. Thus was born ristorante Bel Sogno—the “great dream” in Italian—in Nishi-Azabu, featuring a 10-seat U-shaped kitchen counter of solid Italian stone on which Chef Nakamoto kneads homemade pasta before his guests’ eyes.   

His masterful use of traditional Italian techniques, particularly those of the Piedmont region, transforms top-quality Miyazaki ingredients into the perfect fusion of Japanese and Italian cuisines—an homage to the two places in the world he loves the most.