Café 1894, the museum café and bar inside the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo (Marunouchi, Tokyo), is offering a tie-up menu for the exhibition "Antonio Fontanesi: Transcending Landscape—A European Artist at the Opening of Japan," which runs from October 17 (Saturday), 2026 to January 24 (Sunday), 2027. The menu is available only during the exhibition.
The lunch and dinner items take their cue from the food culture of Piedmont in northern Italy and its capital, Turin, the hometown of Antonio Fontanesi, the Italian painter who laid the foundations of modern Western-style painting in Japan. The desserts are inspired by the mist and light seen in his paintings, so visitors can experience his artistic world through taste as well.
Tie-Up Lunch "Landscapes of Italy"
Price: ¥2,800 (tax included)
Available: 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM (last order)
Includes: Appetizer, main, bread, and coffee or tea
- Appetizer: Seasonal vegetable bagna cauda
- Main: Chestnut and porcini gnocchi with truffle aroma
The lunch reworks the food culture of Piedmont, Fontanesi's hometown in northern Italy, with seasonal ingredients. The appetizer is bagna cauda, a regional dish said to have originated in Piedmont, while the main pairs chestnut and porcini mushroom gnocchi with the aroma of truffle, expressing the flavors of northern Italy nurtured by its rich natural surroundings.
Tie-Up Mini Dessert "Bicerin-Style Panna Cotta"
Price: ¥500 (tax included)
Available: 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM (last order)
Note: This item can only be ordered by guests having a lunch menu.
This mini dessert is inspired by bicerin, the traditional hot drink known as a specialty of Turin, Fontanesi's hometown. The flavors of bicerin, a combination of espresso, chocolate, and milk, are expressed in a smooth panna cotta. It offers a taste of northern Italian café culture and can be enjoyed as a finishing touch to lunch.
Tie-Up Dessert "White Tiramisu of Mist and Light"
Price: ¥1,500 (tax included)
Available: 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM (last order)
This limited-time dessert expresses the mist and haze that Fontanesi painted, and the soft light shining through from behind them. Tiramisu made with layers of mascarpone and white chocolate mousse is served with pear, evoking the tranquil landscapes and soft atmosphere found in his works.
Tie-Up Dinner
Available: 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM (last order)
Appetizer: Jambon Blanc and Leek with Tonnato Sauce
Price: ¥1,400 (tax included)
This dish draws on the flavors of tonnato, a tuna-based sauce popular as a Piedmont regional dish. Tender ham is paired with seasonal vegetables, giving it the rich, nourishing taste typical of northern Italy.
Main: Beef Steak with Porcini Sauce and Hazelnuts
Price: ¥3,600 (tax included)
The steak uses porcini, a mushroom representative of northern Italy, and hazelnuts, a specialty of Piedmont. It is a dish that conveys the bounty of a land nurtured by rich nature.
Dessert: Parfait Monte Bianco
Price: ¥2,200 (tax included)
The dessert is a parfait version of monte bianco, a traditional sweet said to have originated in Piedmont. The sweet represents a snow-covered mountain using chestnut cream, calling to mind the climate of northern Italy surrounded by the nature of the Alps. With the rich flavor of chestnuts, it is a dessert that invites diners to think of Fontanesi's hometown.
Tie-Up Non-Alcoholic Drink "Light"
Price: ¥1,000 (tax included)
Available: 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM (last order)
This non-alcoholic drink is inspired by the soft light that falls across Fontanesi's paintings. The fruitiness of orange and refreshing carbonation are finished with the aroma of cinnamon for a layered flavor, evoking the bright, clear light of northern Italy.
Limited-Time Tie-Up Alcohol Menu: Red Wine "Barolo"
Price: ¥1,800 (tax included)
Available: 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM (last order)
Barolo, a renowned wine representing Piedmont, the region that includes Fontanesi's hometown of Turin, is served by the glass. Its deep color and rich aroma bring to mind the quiet light and shadow that drift through his works.
About the Exhibition
Exhibition: Antonio Fontanesi: Transcending Landscape—A European Artist at the Opening of Japan
Dates: October 17 (Saturday), 2026 to January 24 (Sunday), 2027
The exhibition is being held to mark the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Italy and the 150th anniversary of Fontanesi's arrival in Japan.
Antonio Fontanesi (1818–1882) studied in Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in Europe, and is highly regarded as a leading painter of modern Italian landscape painting, depicting light, air, and the changing of nature with poetic richness. In 1876 he came to Japan at the invitation of the Meiji government, where he taught Asai Chu, Koyama Shotaro, and others at the Technical Fine Arts School (Kobu Bijutsu Gakko), laying the foundations of modern Western-style painting in Japan.
The exhibition is Japan's first major retrospective of Fontanesi, presenting Fontanesi's oil paintings and prints from his early years through his final years, works and materials from his stay in Japan, and works by his students and later Italian painters. With cooperation from institutions in Japan and abroad, including the Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Turin, Italy, it traces his career and his influence on the art of both Japan and Italy through about 200 works and materials.
Café 1894
Café 1894 is a museum café and bar set in a space restored from the banking hall used in the Meiji era (1894). It is popular for its classic atmosphere and high, two-story atrium ceiling.
Address: 1F Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, 2-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Hours: 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
- Lunch time: 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM (last order 2:00 PM)
- Café time: 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM (last order 4:30 PM)
- Dinner time: 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM (last order 10:00 PM)
Closed: Irregular holidays. For the latest hours, check https://mimt.jp/cafe1894/#/hours
Phone: 03-3212-7156 (reservations are accepted for each time period; see the website for details)
Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo
The museum opened in 2010 in Marunouchi, Tokyo, and is about a 5-minute walk from JR Tokyo Station. It holds three special exhibitions a year on modern art from the late 19th to the early 20th century. Small exhibitions based on the curators' interests, centered on works from the museum's collection, are held three times a year alongside the special exhibitions. The red-brick building is a restoration of the Mitsubishi Ichigokan, built by Mitsubishi in 1894 and designed by Josiah Conder.
