When you walk through the door of Katei, even Milan slows down: the restaurant is not large, there are no rice paper lanterns, fans, or other references to Japan. Everything is suspended between flowers and meadows on the ceiling and warm woods that evoke the silence of a ryokan. In a few moments, you feel like you are slipping into a world that is halfway between glamour and the Orient, halfway between home and garden: the name itself, katei, means “Japanese house,” combining the two Japanese characters that merge the words “domestic walls” and “garden,” thus alluding to a sense of welcome, shared cordiality, and a comfortable and pleasant place. But it can also take on the nuanced meaning of a process in progress, a project that is growing.
An invitation to return home: the fire that speaks, the flavors that remind, the surprising domestic conviviality. Here, as in any respectable hearth, it is the embers that reign supreme. Not as a theatrical act, but as a ritual of respect and moderation. Masaki Okada and the MRG team have built a “house of fire” where Japanese cuisine, the most unknown and reserved, finds its home.
The story: fire, home, and community
The project was launched in 2025 by MRG Milano Restaurant Group, known for restaurants such as Rosso Brera and L’Alchimia. Katei is fully in line with the group’s philosophy: elegant simplicity, meticulous attention to raw ingredients, and cuisine that is not fine dining but high profile. The advice of Masaki Okada, a Japanese chef trained in kaiseki cuisine in Gifu and perfected in Milan at Iyo, Finger’s, and Tomoyoshi, embodies ancient disciplines and the ethics of a strict, regulated, and comprehensive teaching received from masters such as Tomishima. Arriving in Italy with purely Japanese experience, he brought to Katei more than just an exercise in style, but a sincere project: dishes that convey, through taste, the value of raw ingredients and fire. Robata cuisine, after all, depends strictly on respect: for the ingredients, the time, and the gesture, never taken for granted or mechanized.
At his side is a young, attentive, and engaged team. Customer feedback—often mentioning names such as Katia and Anna—speaks of empathetic and competent service, a true extension of the chef’s intentions. Their professionalism and vast knowledge of the subject make them true ambassadors of Katei, but also of hospitality in true “robata” style: pleasant, warm, and authentic. Try it for yourself: let Katia guide you through a tasting menu accompanied by sake. You will discover a new dimension of pairing. The fire, which cooks meat, fish, and vegetables together in a smoky, intense, sublime embrace, translates into the warmth of something that welcomes you.
The surroundings: domestic intimacy, contemporary nuances
With just a few tables, Katei plays on contrast: it welcomes guests into the three souls of its interior—a convivial dining room, a sushi bar to watch from high stools, and a cozy and charming mezzanine—and opens up in the summer with a discreet outdoor seating area that blends in well with the street. The sobriety of natural tones, the welcoming geometry of rice paper and sake on display, together with hanging cherry blossoms and other flowers, create a design that is not daring but captivating. The atmosphere is intimate but never suffocating, accessible but refined, synonymous with luxury without ostentation. The outdoor seating area, in anticipation of warm evenings, offers new sips of conviviality, confirming the domestic but open philosophy of the project. It is not a stereotypical transposition of Japanese interiors, but a measured attempt at evocation: warm, almost domestic atmospheres, where every table suggests conversation and sharing.
The menu: fire that tells the story of the ingredients
At the heart of Katei, the robata comes to life in three sections, all focused on fire, embers, and precision. The menu distinguishes between oniku (meat), gyokai (fish), and yasai (vegetables). First, you are welcomed with exquisitely Japanese starters: fragrant gyoza, crispy calamari with lime and green pepper, tacos filled with tuna and avocado, dishes that immediately transport the customer to a home in Tokyo, between the Kabuki-cho neighborhoods and the tasty smile of a fine evening. The sushi, masterfully prepared at the counter, is a performance: the Avocado Grill blends textures (fried shrimp, seared avocado, teriyaki, ikura), the Italy–Japan combines burrata, confit tomatoes, and tuna, while the Scallop Roll pairs salmon, scallops, and mentaiko mayo in a triumph of flavor.
But where the restaurant really excels and stands out is in its charcoal grilling, literally “robata” cooking, which involves live embers in a specific grill similar to our barbecue. It’s not so easy to find, as it takes more than just a machine and a few pieces of charcoal to call it “robata”: it must meet precise measurements, materials, and rules to respect the traditional Japanese style. Here, Katei’s robata stands out both for its composition, a machine made to measure in Japan and carefully chosen by Okada-san, and for its use: try it with the meat dishes. Yaki Iberico with chashu sauce and Yaki Tori (yakitori chicken thigh) are examples of skilful simplicity, while the Gyuniku, a 200 g beef filet, offers an unrivalled experience of marbling and protein contrasts.
On the fish front, highlights include Kamayaki (grilled salmon), amberjack (smoked and grilled fish cheek) and the powerful Gindara miso (Alaska cod), each dish with an aromatic and vertical soul, where the fire amplifies the depth of the sea each time. There is also room for vegetables, prepared with care and often surprising in their intensity: these include dishes such as Manganji yakibitashi, grilled friggitelli peppers seasoned with shichimi; Yaki kinoko, mixed mushrooms with butter and soy sauce; and Nasu dengaku, eggplant with miso sauce and katsuobushi.
Every skewer, every bite, speaks of respect for the ingredients and for moderation. Here, the chef does not light the fire for show—it is not a griddle, but a domestic vibration—and the embers do not fuel the fire, but the ancestral memory of a craft—a gentle and thoughtful expression, not a loud one. The journey ends elegantly: in our case with Hiromi cake in three variations (Okinawa, Yuzu, Reiwa), a modern reinterpretation of the Japanese dessert accompanied by mousse, azuki, and crunchy biscuit. The mochi – pistachio, chocolate, salted caramel, mango, vanilla – offer a surprising finish in terms of lightness and precision.
Drinks and pairings: sake and alcoholic caresses
There is no shortage of wines, champagnes, and Japanese beers, but it is the sake and Japanese cocktails that leave their mark. From Junmai to Daiginjo varieties, sake gracefully accompanies the raw delicacy of sushi and the smoky intensity of robata. Cocktails, such as the Negroni Katei, explode with elegance with Impact gin, Campari, and aged sake: a bubble of liquid culture that moves between East and West. Other standouts include the Spicy Martini (sake, vermouth, ginger, amazu cucumber) and the ethereal Origami (gin, yuzu sake, champagne, raspberry, lime).
The menu, divided into raw and grilled dishes, gently envelops you in salty and smoky flavors, while the dishes and sake interact in a sensory narrative without emphasis or repetition. Katei is not a passive destination: it demands attention, participation, and a desire to feel, for a few moments, at home.
CONTACTSKatei Robata&Sushi
Via Giovanni Battista Fauchè, 11, 20154 Milano MI
Phone: 02 9710 4552
Website
AloJapan.com