11 Italian Selections in Ginza

Enjoying Italian Cuisine in Ginza

A Japanese Fascination: Tokyo Italian

Many visitors are surprised to find that Japan is seemingly in love with Italian food. Unlike the localization of Italian cuisine by American immigrants that led to Italian-American food, Japan's Italian food culture was born out of a need for cheap, comforting European flavors to replace their habit of eating French food once the financial bubble burst and it became too expensive. Many Japanese people grew up sharing pasta and pizza in affordable famiresu "family-restaurants" like Saizeriya, and their fandom for Italy's myriad cuisines extends into the fine-dining world. While Tokyo may not have a Little Italy, nearly every street has an Italian eatery waiting to be discovered, some of which exemplify the height of fine dining and good taste.

Italian Restaurants in Ginza

Ginza, in particular, is home to a concentration of high-fashion brands, upscale offices, and fine dining venues. Gucci, Bvlgari, and Armani have tentpole stores in the area, complete with branded hotels and restaurants. A town where the wealthy come to work and play, Ginza bursts at the seams with Michelin recognition and chefs at the top of their game. It's also a distinctly international area, amassing brands from around the world to create a microcosm of the best global cuisines -- including, of course, Italian.

1. Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura Tokyo (グッチ オステリア ダ マッシモ ボットゥーラ トウキョウ)

1. Japan Restaurant Award, Best 100 (2023)

Opened in 2021, The Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura occupies the top floor of the Gucci flagship in Ginza. On the first floor, a dedicated entrance features wall-to-wall florals that recall the masters of the Italian rennaissance. From playfully named dishes, like Noto to Noto and "A Parmigiana that Wants to Become a Ramen," to the fluid, sensual maturity with which each element is plated and served, The Gucci Osteria toes the lines that make its eponymous fashion brand world-renowned. This Tokyo iteration, which was awarded One Michelin Star in 2023 and 2024, on top of winning a Best 100 Japan Restaurant Award in 2023, is led by Chef Antonio Iacoviello under the direction of Massimo Bottura. Chef Iacoviello's Italian cuisine upholds tradition while embracing the purposeful use of Japanese ingredients, which tells his personal story as an Italian chef in Japan and reflects the global values of Gucci.

2. BVLGARI IL RISTORANTE LUCA FANTIN (ブルガリ イル・リストランテ ルカ・ファンティン)

1. Japan Restaurant Award, Best 100 (2021, 23)

Luca Fantin was once named the world's best Italian chef and held a Michelin Star for 12 consecutive years. Fabrizio Fiorani, who was called the best pastry chef in Asia in 2019, leads Il Ristorante's dessert brigade. Between these two culinary powerhouses, Bulgari Il Ristorante has beguiled the posh crowd of Ginza, earning the venue Japan's 100 Best Italian Restaurant rankings in 2021 and 2023. This long list of accolades is backed up by a pleasing menu that maximizes the harmony between Italian and Japanese cuisine. Nowhere is this more evident than in the oft-talked-about uni pasta, a favorite Japanese-Italian dish that reaches new heights literally and figuratively here on the 9th floor of the Bulgari Ginza Tower. Above all, the enthusiastic, confident service is what sets Il Ristorante apart from the other branded fine dining venues in the neighborhood. Desserts rolled out on spectacular carts add to the feeling of celebration and luxury that envelops the restaurant.

3. ARMANI / RISTORANTE (アルマーニ リストランテ)

A Michelin Guide 2024 selection, the Armani Ristorante that spans the 10th and 11th floors of the Armani / Ginza Tower is a vision in pale golden wood and glowing ambiance. While a stellar course-meal service is obvious, the afternoon tea and aperitivo box sets make this one of the best Italian restaurants in Ginza and also one of the few that can be enjoyed outside of standard dining hours. In addition to offering daily omakase menus, diners have the option to experience a signature menu inspired by the Armani brand, featuring Italian classics like cutlet milanese, spaghetti pomodoro, and tiramisu. The man behind its growing acclaim is Chef Carmine Amarante, affectionately referred to as Carmine. He arrived in Tokyo as a chef at just 28 and quickly earned a Michelin Star at his first post. Now at Armani / Ristorante, he leads with a smile as sparkling as the venue's interior design. A commitment to Italian cuisine through the lens of Japanese ingredients such as kinmedai complements signature dishes like Carmine's saffron risotto.

4. Grappolo Ginza (グラッポロ 銀座)

1. Michelin (2014 - 16): Bib Gourmand

"Made in house" is the defining feature of this petite hideaway in Ginza 6-Chome. Six or seven varieties of hand-made pasta and suitable sauces are prepared daily, served a la carte or as part of an omakase course menu. A dedicated patissier crafts traditional Italian dolce from scratch, including bitter-chocolate-coated brutti ma buoni, a rustic cookie translating to "ugly but good." Grappolo Ginza was named a Michelin Bib Gourmand from 2014-2016. Its interior retains the contemporary Wa quality of the space's original occupant, creating a one of a kind atmosphere that surpasses the simple combination of Italian and Japanese. The wine list, which focuses on Italian wines, contains only bottles that have convinced Chef Jin Miura of their worth. Since returning from Italy, where he studied the art of making fresh pasta, the Grappolo name has followed Chef Miura across the major culinary hubs of Tokyo, first from his career-defining experience in Ebisu to the current iteration at Grappolo Ginza.

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5. LA BETTOLA da Ochiai (ラ・ベットラ・ダ・オチアイ)

1. Michelin (2017 - 24): Bib Gourmand
2. Japan Restaurant Award, Best 100 (2021)

Infamously titled, "The hardest restuarant to book in Japan," LA BETTOLA da Ochiai in Ginza is the enduring original location of Chef Ochiai Tsutomu's groundbreaking Italian empire. A Michelin Bib Gourmand for 7 consecutive years, the restaurant is now helmed by Chef Narita, Ochiai Tsutomu's longtime friend and collaborator. Regional, classic Italian dishes are hearty, unpretentious, and filling. Plates are served with an attention to quality and authenticity that fits the name "Bettola", alluding to a casual Italian eatery the way shokudo operate as the everyman's catchall eateries in Japan. A generous prix fixe menu offers enough options to overwhelm, but there are no wrong choices here. Within Japan, Chef Ochiai's dishes have become so well loved as to have inspired a line of grocery store products, cookbooks, and corporate collaborations. To dine here is not only to indulge in one of the best Italian restaurants in Ginza, but also one of the landmark establishments that defined Italian cuisine in Japan.

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6. FARO (ファロ)

1. Michelin (2021 - 24): One Star, Michelin (2020): Bib Gourmand
2. Japan Restaurant Award, Best 100 (2023)

After its 2018 rebirth under Chef Kotaro Noda and receiving a Bib Gourmand accolade in 2020, Faro quickly rose to its current 3-year run of Michelin One Star status. In 2023, it was also named one of the Top 100 Italian eateries in Japan by the country's largest domestic food ranking and review site. Faro's supremacy reaches uncharted territories in fine dining with its Green-starred vegan course, an adventure through Japan's fields and mountains as picturesque as the natural world that inspires it. Faro is operated by the Shiseido company, which in the early 1900s became Japan's first Western-style pharmacy, operating as both a drugstore and soda jockey. Founded in Ginza, Shiseido remains at the forefront of Japanese beauty and wellness products to this day. Its legacy of beauty and health is an image reflected in the elegance of Faro's dishes. Twirls of green, impossibly soft edible flower petals and a rainbow of colors ignite each plate in vibrant contrast to the cool blue-grey interior design.

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7. Aroma Fresca (アロマフレスカ)

1. Michelin (2008 - 24): One Star
2. Japan Restaurant Award, Best 100 (2021, 23), Japan Restaurant Award, Bronze (2017 - 21)

Delicate, detailed, fleeting—these are all words that describe the beauty of a fragrance caught on the breeze and the singular cuisine of Aroma Fresca. Every element of the dining experience is impossibly synchronized, from translucent, flowing curtains to delicate servingware and dishes that look as if they have been painted into life. Despite the delicate appearance, at no point does the meal feel insufficient or limited. The best ingredients from around Japan are selected to suit the season and presented with intention. Aroma Fresca's conger eel dish is considered its signature. The dining space itself is a perfect example of old-world luxury, reminiscent of an Italian chateau and decidedly mature. The man behind this corner of Italian elegancy in Ginza is Chef Shinji Harada, who opened the venue in 1998. Since then, Aroma Fresca has been awarded One Michelin Star for 17 years in a row and has been named among the 100 best Italian restaurants on well-known Japanese gourmet review site

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8. LA BOTTEGAIA (ラ・ボッテガイア)

1. Michelin (2024): Selected

Set away from the busy heart of Ginza, the small, warm eatery of La Bottegaia focuses on simple execution of fine ingredients served alongside over 60 varieties of natural wine selected by the owner-sommelier. The owner, Takaaki Aoike, was a business man before becoming a restauranteur. In 2008, he left Japan to study cuisine in Italy before returning to Japan and founding Felice, the company behind La Bottegaia. The atmosphere of La Bottegaia is that of a bistro and bar, where the wine list never plays second fiddle to the cuisine, though both are masterful. The chef, in contrast to the Italian fare that makes up most of the menu, is classically trained in French cooking and suffuses his dishes with rich wine-sauces and creativity. An emphasis on Japanese ingredients creates another layer of interest for this Italian restaurant in Ginza while breaking the mould of Italian cuisine. La Bottegaia earned Michelin selection in 2024 and 2023, a notable recognition of its rebirth under Chef Yuta Nozaki.

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9. Osteria da K. [káppa] (オステリア ダ カッパ)

1. Michelin (2018 - 24): Bib Gourmand

Osteria da K. [káppa] is very much unlike the other restaurants on this list. First of all, its menu is totally a la carte and catered to average businessmen and women on the way home from the office. Secondly, despite focusing on Italian cuisine, the venue was actually conceived by the 3-Michelin-starred sushi venue, Sushi Yoshitake. Ostera da K.'s chef is Isogai Katsunari, a Tokyo native who pursued the culinary arts from a young age. His time studying in Italy and the fine art of sushi at Sushi Yoshitake defined his signature culinary style. The menu changes daily, always featuing fish caught the same morning and the same extremely high quality and impressive variety that would be found at Tokyo's best sushi-ya. Instead of serving this seafood raw over rice, Chef Isogai turns it into creamy uni pasta, whole-fish aquapazza, and seafood ragu. The Bib Gourmand awarded restaurant also offers a wine list of Italian bottles explicitly chosen for its seafood-based menu.

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10. TRATTORIA GANZO (ガンゾ)

1. Japan Restaurant Award, Best 100 (2023)
2. Japan Restaurant Award, Bronze (2017 - 19)

In business since 2012, Trattoria Ganzo reopened with more focus, exclusivity, and pride in 2023. The restaurant is completely operated by its owner-chef, Takada Shinichi. He has strict rules about his patrons and venue operations, but this tight shift allows Chef Takada to offer an authentic slice of rustic Italian cuisine in the heart of Ginza. The interior of his one-room restaurant only had eight seats, just enough for two groups. The interior design contrasts white-washed walls and dark wood in the classic style of rural Tuscany. Chef Takada's wine list features an impressive array of back vintage and rare wines from Piemonte and Tuscany. The name Ganzo comes from a formative experience during his time in Italy. Upon creating a successful dish, the Italian head chef shouted, "Ganzo!", a word from the Tuscani dialect in congratulations. With its course menu basis revolving around starters, pasta, and lean Irish beef, Trattoria Ganzo has earned rankings among Japan's 100 Best Italian restaurants, and Bronze on well-known Japanese gourmet review site from 2017-2019.

11. Sala Amabile (サーラ アマービレ)

1. Japan Restaurant Award, Best 100 (2021, 23)
2. Japan Restaurant Award, Bronze (2017 - 19)

The sister store to Aroma Fresca, Sala Amabile is not a true restaurant, but rather, a salon. The venue, perched on the top floor of the Ginza Trescious building, looks out on the cityscape through wide windows. Business lunches and afternoon breaks can be spent in its luxurious seating and low tables, where coffee and dolce are served. A wide variety of small plates and slightly more friendly pricing than the opulent Aroma Fresca make Sala Amabile perfect for casual use without sacrificing quality. Each dish is crafted to the same standard of elegance that Chef Shinji Harada affords all of his creations, earning the mature, laid-back space a place on Japan's 100 Best Italian Restaurant list in 2021 and 2023, and Bronze on well-known Japanese gourmet review site from 2017 to 2019. The salon also features an eye-catching, black grand piano as a centerpiece, which is used during weekend dinner service. Guests are invited to enjoy a full-course meal in the salon while enjoying live piano music.