After a of day roaming around the nearby islands, I was looking forward to a good warm meal with decent wine and a place I could kick back and relax in Takehara. Il Traghetto certainly met our needs. This is rustic Italian food interpreted by Kaoru Shinzaki, a retired corporate man who loves cooking. Shinzaki-san uses fresh, local produce and seafood and my favorite dish was a delicious risotto full of shrimp that was as Japanese as it was Italian.
Shinzaki-san decided to retire in Takehara after being introduced to the town while working at Dai Nippon Printing’s (DNP) nearby plant. He had previously lived in Tokyo and was posted to New York in the mid-1980s (and thus, speaks excellent english). Takehara is a far cry from these urban centers but certainly a pleasant and pretty place to retire to and open a labor of love.
Our meal started with some cold cuts and plump local cherry tomatoes. This was followed by a heartwarming soup and a really good risotto. The risotto contained lots of shrimp – very sweet and with relatively soft shells to be eaten in its entirety. These shrimp are bigger in size than sakura ebi that we usually see these days paired with angel hair pasta.
One of Il Traghetto’s house specialties are the fried oysters. These are fresh from the bay, plump and cooked just nicely.
Given Shinzaki-san’s generous portions, I was actually quite full after these few dishes. So unfortunately, I don’t think I did the next couple of dishes justice (in fact, we skipped dessert). The first was a baked chicken casserole with local yoshino potatoes.
This was followed by a pasta dish that consisted of three kinds of short pasta in a fresh tomato sauce with squid and peppers. Again – everything was just nicely done. The pasta was al dente and the seafood was not overcooked. The nice thing also is that the pasta is not inundated with too much sauce – something than can happen with Italian food outside of Italy.
I think Shinzaki-san would be able to do excellent grilled fish or fritto misto if less carbs were required. However, I really enjoyed the risotto and I’d be happy with that and a salad for a simple meal – and perhaps a fritto misto. While Il Traghetto has a limited wine list, I thought the selection was very good. Shinzaki-san definitely has fine taste for wine and we enjoyed a good Sicilian white (Di Giovanna Helios Bianco), a Lake Garda Rebo (Pratello Don Vincenti Nero Per Sempre) and an organic Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso from Le Carline. Nothing high-brow but all of which went well with our meal.
Since Il Traghetto only seats 12, it’s probably safer to call ahead for a reservation although dropping in if you’re checking out the historical town of Takehara is also easy enough. The restaurant is located in an 150 year-old building right in the historical district. While Il Traghetto is only officially open on Friday-Sunday and national holidays for lunch, calling ahead may convince Shinzaki-san to open the restaurant on other days or for dinner. He did that for four of us. Il Traghetto only accepts cash. For all this food, the meal cost around JPY4,000 per person excluding wine. I didn’t see the a la carte menu but the prix fixe lunch is just JPY1,500 per person.
Il Traghetto tel. no.: 0846-24-6286 (no website), Shinzaki-san speaks english.
Address: 3-14 3-chome, Hon-machi, Takehara City
Incidentally the full name of the restaurant is Fuefuki-tei Il Traghetto, but goes simply by Il Traghetto.