To call this Kyoto neighbourhood Italian restaurant a ‘hidden‘ gem is indeed an understatement! So well concealed, even a local delivery man, working next door, whom we approached for directions, has no clue where the entrance is!!
Whilst most restaurants in Japan’s major cities are normally found on upper floors of high rise buildings. Seldom does one encounter one that’s tucked away at the bottom of some obscure stairway leading into a shrouded subterranean basement space.
Recommended to me by a trusted avid foodie, yet another decades-old ex-chowhound friend from Hong Kong. My wife and I decided to allocate one of our limited and cherished eating spots to give this ‘ One of the best Italian gems ‘ in Japan, a try.
This meal and venue was the second one in as many days that Rosy and I ended up being the only patrons in the front-of-house during the entire duration of our meal! No complaining here, since it felt so indulgent and nice, being spoiled in receiving un-divided and ‘private-dining-esque‘ attention from Chef owner Satoshi!
With the help of Google Translate and the chef’s iPad, our ‘interactive‘ dining experience was most entertaining and an enjoyable one.
The talented, creative and friendly chef prepared everyone of our tasting menu’s modern Italian dishes with loving care and flair using classical cooking technique. A lot of meticulous thoughts were put into crafting his harmonious and balanced creations. Case in point, the use of specially imported Italian Fassone beef from Piedmont ( known for its leaner, tender and juicy characteristics ) to compliment as a co-star, the in-season, imported fresh, meaty and chewy Italian Porcini Mushrooms……rather than using the much fattier and softer local Wagyu Beef.
No Italian meals will be complete without the inclusion of a few pasta dishes to highlight the skill and creativity of the chef. In our case, two uncommon yet authentic masterpieces were served……Chestnut and Porcini filling. Both were tasty, dainty and perfectly proportioned.
Whether this meal is one of the best Italian meals I have eaten in Japan is debatable since key ‘seafood‘ components were surprisingly omitted from our Omakase?! However, based on what we ate, the meal was indeed enjoyable and commendable, the interaction with chef Satoshi jovial …….. the place worth recommending for those seeking a change in culinary routine!
Lastly, another piece of unexplainable, distorted observation!
Google review, though limited to only 26 reviews, gave Olio Stagno a perfect and worthy 5.0/5.0 score. However, for such a fine, total package, dining experience, the trusted local review Tabelog gave it only a meagre 3.16!..….
absolutely unbelievable!! Go figure?!
