When I first traveled to Italy in the late 1980s, there were no Japanese restaurants I was aware of beyond a famous and prohibitively pricy spot in Milan.

In the late 2000s, Japanese-style restaurants began popping up in urban centers. They seemed like the Japanese restaurants we used to go to in Southern California in the first half of the 80s — fun but commercial and not particularly exciting, especially by today’s standards.

Today, that’s all changed as a wave of high-concept Japanese-focused restaurants have opened across the country, mostly in urban centers but sometimes even in smaller towns.

Anyone who’s ever worked in high-end Italian-focused restaurants in California or in top-tier restaurants in Italy knows that there is an organic affinity between Japanese and Italian cuisines. It was only natural that the two schools would begin to blend. And with glorious results! Italy and Japan are both surrounded by waters rich with materia prima. The collision of cultures was bound to deliver something interesting.

During my visit to Pescara (Abruzzo) earlier this year, a good friend took me to dinner at Hiroshima Mon Amour (you had me at the name!).

The food was great, the presentation was brilliant, and I loved how the couple who owns the place, Susanna and Riccardo, shared their insights into the different grades of tuna that they butcher themselves at the restaurant. I loved this place. My photo above doesn’t do the restaurant justice.

As I enjoyed my last meal from the road, I couldn’t help but think about the excellent Piedmontese lunch I’d enjoyed in Barbaresco village — prepared by a Japanese chef.

I had never been to Koki Wine Bar but I had had the food. A good friend in the Barbaresco appellation likes to serve take-out from Koki at family dinners.

I was thrilled to finally meet Koki and taste his excellent cooking. Next time I go, I want to try some of his Japanese dishes and his more creative work. But this time I went full-on traditional. Another must-visit spot, with a fantastic wine list.

Great Japanese cuisine by Italians. Great Italian cuisine by a man from Japan. It’s a small and wonderful world and I’m glad I’m in it.