This Is What You Get When Japanese and Italian Food Collide

"Living in Japan in the early 2000s, Fralick fell in love with an Italian restaurant in the city of Shizuoka, where he ate Italian food, but with Japanese influences, like pastas made with uni and the fermented soybeans known as natto. "It really reminded me of home," says Fralick, who grew up in upstate New York and started his cooking career in Italian fine dining."

"The goal is "bringing those influences together in a creative way that doesn't mar either cuisine," Fralick says. His chawanmushi - Japanese steamed egg - features Parmesan broth and guanciale; his cappelletti is stuffed with ricotta, maitake mushrooms, pickled daikon radish, and balsamic vinegar."

"Across the country, there's a growing crop of Japanese Italian restaurants, with Kinjo in Tampa; Ama and Ciaorigato in San Francisco; Miso Mozza in Providence, Rhode Island; and Itameshi in Albany, New York, all of which have opened within the past year. They join earlier examples of the genre such as LA's Orsa & Winston, which opened in 2013."

Chef Eric Fralick opened Kinjo in Tampa in August 2025, fulfilling a 20-year vision inspired by his experience at an Italian restaurant in Japan during the early 2000s. The restaurant specializes in "itameshi wafu Italian" cuisine, combining Italian cooking methods with Japanese ingredients and flavors. Dishes include akami spaghettoni made from bluefin tuna and vitello tonnato enhanced with sake and black garlic. Fralick aims to blend both cuisines creatively without compromising either tradition. A growing trend of Japanese Italian fusion restaurants has emerged nationwide, including establishments in San Francisco, Providence, Albany, and other cities, with some opening as recently as the past year.

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