Address - Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Kojimachi 2 - 5 - 2, Hanzomon House Opening hours - Open Monday to Saturday from 11:45 to 14:15 and 17:45 to 22:15 Map - Yes Telephone - 3239-6771 Menu - In Italian and English CC - OK

Elio Locanda Italiana, "Elio's" for short, is a funny name for a restaurant, because the term "locanda" usually denotes a cheap hotel, of which there seems to be no trace. The place is rather an elegant restaurant with many Italians among its regular clientele. Quiet, spacious and relaxing, it's the right place to impress someone you want to take to bed or you want to conclude a contract with. The evening we went, there were near us obvious examples of both kinds of prey.

Elio Orsara, the owner, is from Calabria, at the tip of the Italian boot, but the food, like the wines, comes from all over the country. Since I am from the North, I deliberately chose from the moderately long menu dishes from the deep South: to begin with, a caponata (the Sicilian version of Ratatouille), plus a fish carpaccio and olives. As a main dish, I had a grilled swordfish steak. My friend Claus Regge had an unusual spelt soup (where spelt is the name of a type of grain: I found it on the dictionary), gnocchi in a tomato and mozzarella sauce and pollo alla diavola. He was so kind to let me taste his stuff, so I can give you an opinion of them too. On the table there were excellent home-made grissini and bread, great if you're hungry and want a snack right away.
When the food came, I was disappointed to find out that the carpaccio was actually a hot dish: I expected it to be raw fish slices. In any event, like everything else, it was good but not particularly exciting. And in a place like Elio's, where an appetizer costs 1900 yen, that is clearly not enough. With spectacular prices, spectacular quality is in order. And this is in a nutshell my opinion of Elio's: I have eaten there only once, but I feel that if in the future I wanted to have a classy Italian meal, I'd rather go to Al Doge, Ferrara or La Cantinella, where the cooking is to me clearly superior, and where even simple dishes like swordfish steak and pollo alla diavola really shine as they should.
To close the meal, I ordered a grappa and later found out it cost 1200 yen, a sum that for a glass of Nardini grappa is definitely too much, although I must say I have seen this kind of prices elsewhere.

The wine: according to Claus, who was responsible for the drinking, the wine list is substantial but, as unfortunately is usual, includes only Italian wines. Two wines in the list were actually not available, something that should not happen in a restaurant of this class. Prices are not particularly low, but acceptable.