Lega’

Sugawara Shogo's love for Italian food and Japan radiates through this stalwart restaurant in Katsuragi, an ever-blooming flower town in Nara Prefecture. His culinary training had taken him to Italy, from the rolling hills of vineyards in Alba to the cobblestoned fashion runway of Milan, and even further deep into the countryside, where he mastered hyper-local dishes.

In 2024, Lega’ earned a coveted Michelin star. Fusions of deep Italian flavors permeate a menu with heavy respect to Nara-grown ingredients and delicacies. Kakinoha sushi wrapped persimmon leaf from Gojo gets topped with dry-cured ham. Anglotti pasta is stuffed with Yamato chicken and lamb, while the plump Yamato beef steak gets a healthy serving of shaved black truffle and hand-pulled pasta receives local treatment of salmon roe and okra. There’s a lot to love about the drinks here, too; the list is almost entirely composed of Italian wines, as well as local Nara sake.

The grandeur of the dark-tinted space recalls the fine-dining, haute energy that has long inspired Sugawara. Muted grey walls and floor bask in light from overhead fixtures. Flower and plant installments are replaced often to reflect the season. A stark azure-blue painting stands out in the dark — an unexpected combination of Tokushima indigo against Mortex concrete, a nod to the merging of two polar regions into one.

Michelin Guide accolades:
2024 - 1 Michelin Star