Tabelog ratingLA CASA DI Tetsuo Ota (ラ・カーサ・ディ・テツオ オオタ) is a painted house restaurant outside Karuizawa. Chef Tetsuo Ota trained at El Bulli in Spain and forages much of what he serves himself. He spends days in the Nagano mountains gathering wild mushrooms and sansai (mountain vegetables), as well as spring water and birch sap. One group of up to six sits at the counter for a single multinational course of 12 or more dishes. Broths are built from wild grasses instead of dashi, and some courses are cooked over wood in the garden. It won the Tabelog Award Silver in 2024 and Bronze in 2025 and 2026.
Almost every reviewer calls the meal unlike anything they have eaten before. These dishes are singled out again and again:
- a mushroom omelette made with first-laid eggs
- pelmeni wrapped in mugwort dough
- wood-grilled beef from retired dairy cows, chopped onto cacao bread
- wild-vegetable tempura in fermented buckwheat batter
- a bear and boar hotpot
- a biryani cooked outdoors
- Amazon-cacao desserts
The chef's storytelling is part of the appeal. The one English-language review called the meal "extremely educational".
Complaints about the food are minor. One diner could not decide whether he liked the masked palm civet, and one shop visitor rated the cacao gelato modestly on value. The real obstacle is getting a seat.
There is one set course, and lunch and dinner do not differ meaningfully. The listing gives a typical spend of ¥10,000–14,999 at lunch and ¥20,000–29,999 at dinner, but prices have risen over time.
- 2022: reviewers paid from ¥14,000 for the course, with a bill of ¥24,000.
- 2023: the course cost ¥20,000, or about ¥30,000–32,000 each with wine.
- 2024: the course cost ¥33,000, and one bill came to ¥46,620 with a bottle of wine.
- Shop counter: reviewers recently paid about ¥3,000 for cacao à la mode.
Value is rated highly, between 4.3 and 5. Reviewers say the foraging and hours of work behind each course go far beyond the price.
- Booking: reservation only. You cannot walk in for the course. Dates sell out years ahead, and many seats come through invitations from regulars. The listing says bookings for fiscal 2027 were taken in 2025. A 2024 review reports that the restaurant will close in 2026 with all remaining dates full. Phone: 0267-41-0059.
- Season: open only about 20–50 days a year, in spring and autumn.
- Getting there: take the Karuizawa Town Circular Bus (East/South Route) to New Town Entrance, then walk 3 minutes (175 m). By taxi it is 10–15 minutes from Karuizawa Station. Parking is available.
- Payment: credit cards accepted. Electronic money and QR code payments are not accepted.
- Seating: 6 counter seats and one group per day. There are no private rooms, but the whole venue can be booked privately.
- Smoking: non-smoking.
- Plan for the meal: it lasts 4–6 hours and includes wild game such as bear, boar and civet.
- Shop counter: gelato, cacao popcorn and sweets, with no reservation needed.
