１日１組だけの楽園；Fogliolina della Porta Fortuna : Fogliolina della Porta Fortuna

【2025 Silver】
【2025 Top 100 Restaurants】
This place in Karuizawa is considered one of the most challenging Italian restaurants in Japan. I was invited by a friend who has completed the Gold experience, and despite the distance, I decided to visit "Fogliolina della Porta Fortuna"; rating: 4.46.
Chef Koji Kobayashi has had his ups and downs, but he has quietly continued running the restaurant since then. It’s probably better that he doesn’t appear on strange TV shows.
The location is near the Preston Court Yukawatan at Hoshino Resort, which I visited previously.
Since it’s a special Italian restaurant and a standalone house, I prepared my 40-year-old Italian racer for the first time in two years. I planned to ride my DUCATI there and stay overnight before heading back early in the morning.
If I just went to eat and return, it would be a day I wouldn’t remember in life. However, riding a super-lean racer for over three hours on the first day of Golden Week will surely make the journey and the meal memorable.
<Reservation Method> Almost hopeless for non-regulars
<Reservation Difficulty> ★★★★★
■ Bearing Course; JPY 60,500
Degustazione di togliere il fiato Per 2025
◆ Franciacorta DOCG Extra Brut Cuvée Prestige Edizione
◇ Grilled three types of asparagus, veal diaphragm (with quail egg yolk, beluga caviar, and scorzone)
◇ Fruits marinated in mandarin and sambuca liqueur
◆ "Inonu" Langhe DOC Bianco - Bosco Pierangelo
◇ Veal tongue and sunchoke antipasto (appetizer)
◇ Pan ripieno (stuffed bread)
◆ "Inonu" Langhe DOC Bianco - Bosco Pierangelo
◇ Martelli for antipasto (a type of pasta)
◇ Gorgonzola bread
◆ Carmignano Terre A Mano
◇ Leaf celery soup, turnip, Taleggio cheese
◇ Salad with green beans and parmesan cheese, bottarga, artichoke, romanesco
◆ Carmignano Terre A Mano
◇ Duck breast pasta
◆ Carmignano Terre A Mano
◇ Quinoa with mascarpone
◇ Rabbit and snail stew
◆ Mirto Tremontis
◇ Chocolate and pear soufflé dessert
◆ Espresso
◇ Petit fours
Entering from the Keiyo Road, the outer ring road was completely congested past the Joban Expressway, yet I arrived 40 minutes earlier than the navigation predicted.
After a short stroll nearby, I returned to the restaurant five minutes before my reservation, just as the group arriving by Shinkansen showed up.
Inside, there was only one table for four, and Chef Kobayashi’s handwritten menu was placed as the course began.
The flavors were complex and profound, combining Italian ingredients in a way that cannot simply be described. This is the cooking of Chef Koji Kobayashi, which is completely different from the Italian and, of course, French cuisines I know.
Before I knew it, four hours had passed, and it felt like time was echoing with the DUCATI’s exhaust sound in the tunnel.