"You can't get proper Italian food in Japan." "It's all too pretty-pretty and refined." "There's no soul in it." These are the plaints of people pining for the taste of home. People who have never been to Pizzeria e Trattoria da Isa.
Make your way along the Naka-Meguro stretch of Yamate-dori on a balmy early-autumn evening and there's no way you can miss the place: There are tables spreading four-deep across the sidewalk. As often as not there will also be a dozen people or more in line outside, waiting for them to free up.
Even before you spot the flicker of the flames inside the oven and the warm aromas of wood smoke and baking pizza crust greet your nostrils, you will hear the buzz and chatter, the clinking of wine glasses, the sound of people enjoying their meals. Those tables with their pink-and-white checked plastic cloths may be basic and cramped, but dinner here (and lunch too) feels fun.