Chef Luca Fantin's cooking is far from most people's idea of typical Italian fare. The softly spoken 37-year-old native of Treviso serves elaborate multicourse tasting menus that are as creative, contemporary and cutting edge as anywhere else in Tokyo. This has won him plaudits, a Michelin star — he's the only Italian chef in Japan to hold one — and a growing reputation around the world.
The sole way to get to know his cuisine is to dine at his eponymous restaurant, Il Ristorante Luca Fantin, in Tokyo's swish Bulgari Tower. But to understand his influences and his deep appreciation for Japan, feast your eyes on his new book, "La Cucina di Luca Fantin," published in September.
A lavish, large-format tome luxuriously illustrated with gorgeous photography, it is both a visual record of the many ingredients Fantin uses in his kitchen and a celebration of the inescapable grip of Japan's changing seasons. It also introduces many of the ingredients he uses and the farmers and fishermen who produce them. Fantin spoke with The Japan Times about how his book came about.