In shortPiedmont-trained Italian cooking from the Shimabara peninsula's own larder, one Michelin star (Fukuoka-Saga-Nagasaki 2019). Reservations run in Japanese and are hard to place from abroad, so our Tokyo desk requests the table for you, by phone and in Japanese.
Price
Omakase roughly ¥20,000–30,000 per person, tax and service included; drinks carry a 10% service charge
Hours
Lunch Thursday and Friday at 12:00; dinner Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 18:00 — one seating, everyone starts together
Closed
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Seats
Eight, rebuilt in 2026 so every seat faces the windows; no private room
Payment
Cards accepted; food prices include tax and service
Getting there
Shimabara Railway Taira, 3 minutes by taxi; 5 minutes from Taira port — a car or taxi is needed
Party size
Solo diners accepted
Dress code
Smart casual
Dietary needs
Some allergies cannot be accommodated; ask when booking
Kunimi is a farming and fishing town on the north shore of the
Shimabara peninsula, an hour from Nagasaki airport and, by the
chef’s own admission on his blog, a remote place to have opened a
restaurant. Takafumi Yoshida was born in Unzen in 1981, studied
international culture at a Tokyo university, and at 26 went to
Piedmont for a year of training before coming home to open villa del
nido — “the nest” — in 2015. The Michelin Guide’s first Nagasaki
edition (Fukuoka‑Saga‑Nagasaki 2019) gave it a star; Tabelog has
handed it a Bronze award every year from 2022 to 2026 and lists it
among the hundred best Italian restaurants in western Japan. In the
spring of 2026 the room was rebuilt so that all eight seats sit by
the windows, and the schedule was redrawn around the light: lunch on
Thursday and Friday, dinner — “the hour between evening and night” —
on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
What you eat
An omakase of about eight courses, closed by cheese or dessert, built
almost entirely from what Kunimi and the Ariake Sea offer that week
and from producers the chef works with directly: local sea snails
steamed in white wine over a purée of the native Fukushima pumpkin,
salted sea urchin from Uku island, vegetables from neighbouring
farms, fermentation used to deepen flavour and waste less. Reviewers
in 2025 paid around ¥20,570 for the course; food prices include tax
and service, drinks add 10%. The house discourages strong perfume,
has no children’s menu (children may join on the adult course), and
cannot accommodate wheat allergies or long allergy lists.
The booking reality
The rule, as reported by Japanese booking guides in 2025, is a
monthly release: on the first business day of each month the
telephone book opens for dates through the end of the month after
next. Dates three months out are not refused but queued — the house
has directed guests to the waiting list on Pocket Concierge, where
online bookings are also taken around the clock; the house itself
notes that the phone is hard to reach during service. The picture in
practice is more forgiving than the rule suggests: on 31 August 2026
the chef wrote that September and October still had seats, and
reviewers describe booking a month ahead online. Our desk calls the
house in Japanese on release day and keeps the waiting list working
for the date you actually want.
Everyone at a seating starts together, so a late arrival may miss
dishes. A single guest is accepted, per the house’s answer on Pocket
Concierge. Lunch has a designated‑driver service; the nearest lodgings
are a short taxi ride.
Travelers adding the Shimabara peninsula — Unzen’s hot springs,
Obama’s steam, the Ariake tide flats — to a Nagasaki itinerary, and
anyone who wants to see what a serious Italian kitchen does when its
only supplier is the town around it.
Free release-date alerts: the day before, on the morning of release day (08:00 JST) and about 30 minutes before when the time is known — or a weekly summary if the house opens a little every day.
villa del nido: common questions
Can you book villa del nido from abroad?
Yes, through our Tokyo desk. Phone in Japanese or Pocket Concierge online; the book opens on the first business day of each month for two months ahead. We call the restaurant for you, in Japanese, and the ¥6,000-per-seat fee is charged only if we confirm your table — no seat, no fee.
Some of these links are referral links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Restaurants never pay us to be listed or ranked. Editorial policy
Cite this page
Facts on this page were checked by our Tokyo desk. You are welcome to quote them with a link:
villa del nido — Kunimi, Unzen, Nagasaki — SHOKU NOREN (checked September 2026). https://shokunoren.com/restaurants/villa-del-nido-unzen
