The sun sets behind the rocks of the Costa Smeralda while a sashimi composition resting on ice arrives on the table. In Capri, the liturgy itself moves to a terrace open to the Mediterranean; in Sicily the red prawn meets sushi rice inside an ancient Saracen tower, while in Ibiza and Malta nigiri and cocktails accompany the sunset from the top of rooftops suspended over the sea.
Then the landscape changes completely. The palm trees, the sand and the beach clubs disappear, replaced by the glaciers and peaks of the Aosta Valley. In the center of Courmayeur, at the foot of Mont Blanc, a restaurant called Hakusan demonstrates that Japanese cuisine can also find a natural home in the Alps.
The name literally means “white mountain” and the reference, in a location dominated by the highest massif in the Alps, seems almost inevitable. It is also the perfect image of how international the Japanese gastronomic language has become: capable of crossing capitals, islands, resorts and mountain locations without losing its recognisability.
Sushi, sashimi, robata and Japanese techniques have firmly entered European fine dining. In holiday destinations, however, they take on a new form: raw fish meets local catch, yuzu dialogues with Mediterranean citrus fruits and dishes are built to be shared, transforming dinner into an experience that can start at sunset and continue until night.
These are not always traditional Japanese restaurants. They are cosmopolitan addresses that use ingredients, rituals and techniques from Japan to tell the story of the place where they are found. Here are five experiences to try in summer 2026.
Zuma, contemporary Japan between Rome, Capri and Porto Cervo
When it comes to contemporary Japanese cuisine, Zuma is one of the names that have contributed most to defining its international imagination. The concept was born from a rereading of theizakayathe Japanese place where you order different dishes to share without necessarily following the rigid sequence of Western restaurants.
In Italy, the permanent point of reference remains Zuma Roma, housed inside Palazzo Fendi. During the summer, the brand instead moves to two of the most desired destinations in the Mediterranean with the seasonal openings of Capri and Porto Cervo, both confirmed for the 2026 season.
The common thread remains the quality of the raw materials, accompanied by a formula that spans sushi, sashimi, hot dishes and Robata preparations, the traditional Japanese grill. The courses arrive at the center of the table and invite you to build your own journey through different consistencies, temperatures and flavours.
Among the most representative proposals are sashimi moriawasethe tuna and salmon tartare served with rice crackers and caviar, the sea bass with yuzu, truffle oil and salmon roe and the lobster salad with Japanese citrus fruits, black pepper and caviar.
Zuma’s strength lies in the continuity between very different directions. Rome offers the urban and monumental atmosphere of Palazzo Fendi, Porto Cervo intercepts the international energy of the Costa Smeralda, while Capri brings the format to one of the landscapes most immediately associated with the Italian summer.
Nammos Baja Sardinia, the most glamorous Mediterranean
There are restaurants that are located within a destination and others that end up becoming the destination themselves. Nammos Baja Sardinia belongs to the second category.
The restaurant is located inside Phi Beach, in front of the waters of the Costa Smeralda and the large granite formations that characterize this stretch of Sardinia. Open for the 2026 season from May 29, it takes guests from the beach to the restaurant and from lunch until night, making the sunset an integral part of the experience.
The Nammos format, born in Mykonos, meets here the identity of one of the most well-known beach clubs on the island. The result is not a silent dinner or a strictly traditional interpretation of Japanese cuisine, but an experience built through landscape, music, service and an international gastronomic proposal.
Japanese influences coexist with great seafood products. Tuna and amberjack tartare, selections of nigiri and sashimi and fish and shellfish platters are designed above all for sharing, following the slow rhythm of a day spent between the table, the beach and cocktails.
Among the dishes to try are thehamachi tiraditoin which the amberjack is interpreted through a Japanese-Peruvian preparation, the spicy crab tartare and the house signature rolls. The selections dedicated to fish allow us to maintain a direct link with the Mediterranean that surrounds the restaurant.
Nammos Baja Sardinia is the address for those who consider cuisine only one of the components of a larger scene, made up of music, light, sea and tables that come alive when the sun begins to go down.
Nagori, the dialogue between Japan and Sicily
On the southwestern coast of Sicily, within the Verdura Resort, Nagori follows a completely different direction. Here Japanese cuisine is not used to build an international atmosphere separate from the territory, but to observe Sicilian raw materials through Japanese techniques and sensibilities.
The concept was created by Fulvio Pierangelini and is located in the resort’s ancient Saracen Tower. It is an intimate space in which Japanese precision meets Mediterranean seasonality, bringing together two geographically distant islands but united by a profound relationship with the sea, the fish and the raw materials.
The menu avoids fusion as a simple superposition of exotic ingredients. Rather, Japanese techniques become a tool for enhancing recognizable Sicilian products, creating combinations capable of surprising without erasing their identity.
Among the proposals include tuna and wasabi cannoli, eel nigiri with pears in mustard and basil, red prawn, melon and mint maki and tempura friggitelli. Dishes that show how sushi can move away from the most usual repertoires and absorb the character of a territory without being reduced to a decorative gimmick.
Nagori is also the most intimate of the addresses in the selection. The location in the tower, the limited opening to Friday and Saturday dinners and the work on the meeting between two cultures make it closer to a precisely constructed gastronomic experience than a restaurant to be frequented absentmindedly during the holiday.
Rooftop radio, sushi and sunset between Ibiza and Malta
Radio Rooftop brings contemporary Japanese cuisine to the rooftops of ME by Meliá hotels, transforming the view into one of the main ingredients of dinner.
In Santa Eulalia, the ME Ibiza rooftop overlooks the sea and the bay, with a panoramic terrace, swimming pool and a musical program that accompanies the transition from afternoon to evening. In Malta, the format instead rises to the twentieth floor of the ME Malta, offering a 360-degree view of St. Julian’s and the island’s coast.
The menu follows the cosmopolitan identity of the two addresses: dishes to share, cocktails, Mediterranean flavors and references to Asian cuisine mix in an environment closer to an international rooftop than a traditional sushi bar.
Among the proposals are the Samurai Roll with marinated tuna, seared salmon and red yuzu koshothe wagyu beef gunkan with black rice, smoked eel and avruga caviar and the Radio Special Roll with o-bullspring onion and truffle. In Malta, the menu confirms the focus on freshly prepared sushi and dishes intended for sharing.
Then there are the Mediterranean salmon tataki and the avocado, kimchi and pineapple ceviche with leche de tigrean example of a proposal that crosses Japan, the Mediterranean and Latin America without seeking a rigid geographical affiliation.
It is the right restaurant for those who want to extend the day without interrupting the atmosphere of the holiday: dinner arrives together with cocktails, the music grows as the light fades and the table becomes the privileged observation point of the sunset.
Hakusan in Courmayeur, unexpected Japan at the foot of Mont Blanc
The fifth address is also the most surprising. It is not located in front of the sea, inside a Mediterranean resort or on a terrace in Ibiza, but in the center of Courmayeur, along Via Roma, in Piazzetta Brenta, with the Alps just a few steps away.
Hakusan is a contemporary Japanese cuisine restaurant opened in the heart of the Aosta Valley town. The interior design is designed by Emanuele Magenta’s studio and creates an essential and cosmopolitan environment, far from the folkloristic stereotypes often associated with oriental restaurants.
The name is already a statement. In Japanese Hakusanwritten with the ideograms of “white” and “mountain”, literally means “white mountain”. In Japan it also indicates one of the country’s sacred mountains; in Courmayeur, however, the translation seems to naturally transform into Mont Blanc.
It is precisely this connection that makes the address interesting. Japanese cuisine is inserted into an Alpine landscape without appearing out of place: it shares with the mountains the taste for essentiality, seasonality and precision, offering an alternative to fondues, meats and the great Aosta Valley classics.
Hakusan is also proof that summer sushi does not necessarily have to coincide with a terrace overlooking the sea. After a day of hiking, a climb on the Skyway or a walk in the center of Courmayeur, the contrast between Japanese cuisine and the profile of the glaciers becomes part of the experience.
Of all the addresses in the selection, it is probably the one that best illustrates the diffusion achieved by Japanese gastronomy in Europe. Not a fashion confined to big cities or the most glamorous seaside resorts, but a language now capable of adapting to an Alpine destination while keeping its identity intact.
A different Japan in each destination
The five restaurants tell very different ways of interpreting Japanese cuisine. Zuma preserves the international character of the contemporary izakaya, Nammos inserts it into the spectacular energy of the Costa Smeralda, Nagori uses it to reinterpret Sicily and Radio Rooftop transforms it into an experience suspended between dinner, music and sunset.
Hakusan instead makes the most unexpected passage, taking it between the glaciers of Courmayeur and ideally closing the journey from the sea to the mountains.
What unites them is not only the presence of sushi and sashimi, but an idea of the table based on sharing. The dishes arrive at the center, the sequence becomes freer and the dinner stops being an individual succession of courses to transform into a shared experience.
This is perhaps one of the reasons for the success of new Japanese cuisine in Europe: the ability to remain recognizable and, at the same time, to absorb the landscape in which it is served. Whether in front of the table are the sea of Capri, the rocks of Sardinia, the Sicilian coast, the sunset of Ibiza or Mont Blanc.
