Ventinove: Italian wood-fired cuisine in Gunma

Kawaba, home of the Italian restaurant-inn Ventinove, is a village of about 3,000 people in Gunma Prefecture’s Tone district. The small number of residents may evoke the image of a depopulated village in decline, but with its location at the foot of Mount Hotaka, one of Japan’s “100 famous mountains,” Kawaba is actually a vibrant tourist destination. From Tokyo, visitors can take the Joetsu Shinkansen to Jomo-Kogen Station, followed by a 30-minute taxi ride. The area abounds in sightseeing attractions, including the roadside station Kawaba Denen Plaza, which receives as many as 2 million visitors per year, in addition to skiing and golf facilities and five hot springs.

Ventinove’s chef-owner, Yusuke Takeuchi, was born in Tokyo but lived in Kawaba from the age of 10. His father, Shigemitsu, an independent early childhood education specialist, relocated to the area in order to provide educational programs in a natural setting.

Takeuchi said: “Every summer, my dad takes city kids camping for two weeks in an area deep in the mountains without electricity, running water or gas. I went along with the group every year until I was 18. Each day we’d make a wood fire and use it to cook rice and heat bath water. At home, too, we used firewood for cooking and baths.”

In 2006, while training as a chef, Takeuchi went to Italy, where he spent three years honing his skills. In the final year he worked at Cecchini, a 250-year-old business in the Chianti region of Tuscany that has been called the world’s most famous butcher shop.

“In the morning, I’d cut up the meat. From noon, at the attached restaurant, I’d grill the specialty, bistecca (Tuscan-style steak),” said Takeuchi.

After returning to Japan, he worked for a year at Osteria Enoteca da Sasino in Aomori Prefecture, and in 2011 he opened Trattoria 29 in the Nishiogikubo area of Tokyo. Though the restaurant flourished, an eviction notice from the landlord came in 2019, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Takeuchi returned to his family home to take stock, and it was then that he became aware of the wealth of ingredients produced in Kawaba. He decided to create a restaurant there, and in 2022 he opened Ventinove.

“There are wild mountain vegetables, of course, and also an abundance of mushrooms,” said Takeuchi. “You can even forage for black truffles. I also go along on hunts, and as soon as I return, I butcher the hunted game in the meat-production facility at our family home.”

These mountain gifts and all the other ingredients used in the course menu (except seasonings) are sourced in Gunma Prefecture. Menu prices start at ¥15,500 ($100), and a night’s stay in Ventinove’s only guest room, with two meals, starts at ¥36,000 (prices include tax). All the cooking, including the Akagi beef bistecca — crisp on the outside and moist and tender on the inside — is done with wood fire, either on a grill or in an oven. Takeuchi’s wife, Mai, is in charge of service.

This small restaurant will undoubtedly play a big role as a new destination in Kawaba, a town that has survived and prospered through tourism.

イタリアン・オーベルジュ『ヴェンティノーヴェ』がある群馬県利根郡川場村はスキー場やゴルフ場、5箇所ある温泉に加え、年間約200万人が訪れる道の駅もあり、観光資源に恵まれている。『ヴェンティノーヴェ』オーナーシェフ、竹内悠介は東京都生まれだが、10歳から川場村育ち。調理やお風呂に薪を使う生活をしていた。料理人としては世界一有名な精肉店と呼ばれるトスカーナ州『チェッキーニ』でも腕を磨き、2011年、東京都西荻窪に『トラットリア29』を開店。繁盛したが2019年に立ち退きを宣告され、2020年のコロナ禍を機に川場村に戻り、2022年に『ヴェンティノーヴェ』をオープンした。

今では山菜やきのこを採り、解体場で獲物を捌く。￥15,500〜のコースは、調味料以外は群馬県産。赤城牛のビステッカをはじめ、すべての調理に薪グリル、薪オーブンと薪の熱源で火を入れる。観光で生き残る川場村の新たな目的地として、この店が果たす役割は大きいはずだ。

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