Just a little southeast of Hankyu Shukugawa Station, there’s an Italian restaurant called “ARTE Simposio.”
Both its location and exterior are fairly understated, and it feels more like a quiet little place tucked away from view (there are quite a few places like that in Shukugawa), but it’s a popular restaurant where you can enjoy authentic Italian cuisine.
This time, we visited during lunchtime and tried one of their lunch courses.
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“ARTE Simposio” Cuisine
From the lunch course menu, we decided to order the “Chef’s Omakase Course of the Day” (5,500 yen).
It’s a course where every dish is selected by the chef.
First up was the stuzzichino.
A stuzzichino is something like an amuse-bouche, a small bite meant to go with an aperitif, but of course, drinking alcohol in the middle of the day wasn’t really an option…
From right to left: “yellowtail carpaccio,” “Chinese cabbage zuppa,” “seared Yamagata beef,” and “mussels.”
Each one brought out the natural qualities of the ingredients, and they were all very delicious.
Next was the antipasto (appetizer).
This course includes two antipasto dishes, and this was the first one.
I’m not quite sure what the dish was called, but it featured pufferfish and truffle on top of a terrine.
On top of that, olive oil is poured over the dish when it is served. This restaurant is particular about its olive oils too, and apparently uses several different kinds depending on the dish.
The terrine had a well-developed flavor (maybe consommé?), and the balance between the delicate taste of the pufferfish and the aroma of the truffle was excellent.
The olive oil seemed to bring the whole dish together, and I imagine that was carefully calculated as well.
Here is the second antipasto dish.
Inside an eggshell serving dish were egg yolk and salmon roe.
The egg yolk was soft-cooked, and even the salmon roe had been lightly heated. You mix it together with a spoon before eating.
It’s a combination of egg ingredients, but isn’t it actually a fairly unusual pairing?
They brought out the best in each other, and it was very good.
The primo piatto (first course) was “spaghetti with oysters and Chinese cabbage.”
The spaghetti was tossed in a soup full of the umami of oysters and Chinese cabbage.
It was a dish where you could fully enjoy these winter flavors.
It was definitely Italian, but there was also a slightly Japanese feel to it.
Maybe that’s because oysters and Chinese cabbage are so familiar to Japanese diners.
The secondo piatto was “grilled Spanish mackerel” (served over “carrot sauce”).
The secondo piatto is what you might call the main dish, and this course includes two secondo piatto dishes.
The kanji for Spanish mackerel includes the character for spring, but apparently its season is actually from autumn through winter. Come to think of it, I’ve been having Spanish mackerel quite often during recent food coverage.
It was a simple grilled fish dish, but the Spanish mackerel was rich and fatty, and the combination with the carrot sauce was exquisite.
The second secondo piatto was “Yamagata beef steak.”
It was a little hard to see because of the herbs on top, so I took another photo.
Here it is.
What a beautiful color…
The surface was seared, but the center was almost rare.
The sauce was made with red wine and balsamic vinegar.
The acidity of the sauce really brought out the delicious flavor of the lean Yamagata beef, and it was incredibly good…
But the photo may convey just how delicious it was better than words can.
For the final dish, you choose either “dolce” or “cheese,” and this time we chose dolce.
It was “semi-dried persimmon and mascarpone cheese.”
It was my first time having persimmon with mascarpone cheese, and it was very tasty.
Persimmons originated in Japan, but they made their way to Europe in the 17th century, and today they are commonly eaten in Italy as well.
By the way, persimmons are called “kaki” in the West too.
Last came coffee.
For your after-meal drink, you can choose from options like coffee or tea, but with Italian food, espresso is definitely the way to go.
We also received “ponkan peel,” “meringue,” and “homemade pudding” as small sweets to go with the drink.
It was a luxurious lunch where we could enjoy Italian cuisine right up to the very end.
“ARTE Simposio” Menu
Here is the lunch course menu.
Many of the dishes change daily, so please ask the restaurant for details.
Inside “ARTE Simposio”
Inside, there are table seats and counter seats.
These table seats are located just inside the entrance.
The kitchen and counter seats are further back beyond this bar counter.
Here are the counter seats.
Exterior of “ARTE Simposio”
This is the exterior of the restaurant.
There aren’t any flashy signs or banners, so it may be a little hard to spot.
The entrance looks like this.
“ARTE Simposio” Restaurant Information
★Business Hours
11:30～14:00(LO)
18:00～21:00(LO)
★Closed Tuesdays; closed for consecutive days once a month
★Phone Number 0798-22-1886
★Address Hyogo PrefectureNishinomiya CityKotobukicho5-16
★Seats 20 seats
★Credit Cards Accepted
★Smoking Not allowed
★Related Links
Tabelog
(*Prices, menu items, business hours, and other details are as of the time of our visit. Please contact the restaurant directly for the latest information.)
