Hilton Kyoto: OSTERIA ITALIANA 7 EMBERS and the Beauty of Travel, Art, and Reflection

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As I sit on the Shinkansen on my return leg from Kyoto to Tokyo with Spiritualized’s 1997 masterpiece Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space on my earphones, I realize that this sentiment is very much true. We travel and visit places, leave temporary impressions, and then leave. As we hurtle through space on this very small planet called Earth we are essentially nothing and also, simultaneously, everything. 

OSTERIA ITALIANA 7 EMBERS at Hilton Kyoto

I’m in Kyoto to see and sample Hilton Kyoto’s new OSTERIA ITALIANA 7 EMBERS run by award-winning Executive Chef Mariangela Ruggerio. What grabs me from the start is that the restaurant space is superb. Stylish but casual enough for lunches and family gatherings, it’s a genuine reflection of southern Italian cooking and culinary crumbs from Milan (the chef’s birthplace) showcased by Ruggerio’s outstanding Risotto alla Milanese con Ossobuco. Opening her family, and particularly her grandmother’s cookbook, Ruggerio spoils us while humbly introducing each dish as they are presented to each table. She even makes time for a meet and greet at every table and is as charming as she is talented.

The tasting menu was excellent as to be expected. In addition to the Ossobuco, the fried pizza which was pillowy and luscious, the soft and delicious octopus, and the cavatelli were all perfect and hearty and paired softly with prosecco. As a Glaswegian where fried pizza is also something of a cult delicacy, I was touched by this strangely satisfying dish. 

Ruggerio isn’t only the first female Executive Chef within the Hilton group in Japan she might well be the only female chef leading an Italian restaurant in Kyoto which is some feat. Affable, humble and supremely skilled, it’s obvious that she will bring a real authenticity to Italian cuisine in Japan. When Hilton Kyoto General Manager, Australian James Murphy, introduces the main players in the operation, his impeccable Japanese and English-language skills endear him to the various press in attendance. It happens that they chose the name “Osteria” due to its Latin roots meaning “host” or “one who offers hospitality” and the restaurant very much lives up to this in every possible way. 

Hilton Kyoto

The introduction to my stay at Hilton Kyoto is beautiful. A quick but fascinating tour around the different areas of the hotel taking in the lobby, restaurants, spa, gym, pool, executive lounge and beautiful outdoor rooftop area called CLOUD NEST ROOFTOP BAR before settling in my perfect room replete with every mod con you really need in a contemporary luxury hotel. The leitmotif of “LATTICE LOUNGE” is seen throughout the aesthetics of the hotel from the name of to the lounge & bar to the lobby design. The attention to detail in Hilton Kyoto is admirable and is especially showcased when you look closer at the carpets in the rooms which are maps of Kyoto, so you always have a casual reminder of your location and the importance of destination in the hotel’s ethos. 

In the morning, after a filling buffet breakfast (superb croissants, sausages, omelet served table side and croquettes), I walk about 15 minutes to the stunning Chomyo-Ji Temple and say a prayer for my daughter who is sitting her high school exams. I push the huge rope bell which rings after a few hollow bangs and think about my previous visits to Kyoto including my journeys during the pandemic where I experienced some serious and life-changing epiphanies. Kyoto has that effect on me, it can surface memories but also soothe any pain and damage that may have previously occurred. 

Fukuda Art Museum and Uemura Shōen 

I then take the train to the beautiful, yet particularly touristy area of Arashiyama, to the very sleek and stylish Fukuda Art Museum which is located in a back alleyway off the thronging main thoroughfare. I’m here to see the stunning exhibition Uemura  Shōen  and the Trajectory of Bijin-ga (running until January 18, 2026) which showcases this beautiful and ornate genre of art. Bijin-ga, meaning “pictures of beautiful women,” is a Japanese aesthetic category depicting idealized femininity. Originating in the Edo period, artists like Utamaro and Hokusai portrayed courtesans and geisha with elegance and emotion. Later artists including Kaburaki Kiyokata modernized the style, merging traditional aesthetics with Western realism. Uemura also played a central role in this artistic style and this show at the Fukuda Art Museum is a brilliant introduction into these artists’ lives and works. The highlights for me, are Kadoi Kikusui’s Backstage at a Dance, a huge partitioned painting of maiko preparing for performance, Koiso Ryōheis’s Portrait of a Woman (dressing) and all of Uemura’s work which shines and butterflies like very few other art works I’ve ever seen up close. 

Note: Try the museum’s café as it serves the most delectable lattes and has an amazing view of the museum garden and the Oigawa River which flows just outside the museum walls. 

Coda

Afterwards, I head to Kyoto Station where my trip back to Tokyo begins and I quietly reflect on my adventures as the mountains, fields, and empty space between Kyoto and Tokyo speeds by in a flash and the sounds and scattered images of my journey flicker before my eyes as I finally arrive home again. 

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