Bentōteca – the starred kitchen that chose to become a bento shop

On Via San Calocero, in the quiet stretch between Conca del Naviglio and Porta Genova, Bentōteca occupies the same dining room where chef Yoji Tokuyoshi once ran his eponymous restaurant, awarded a MICHELIN Star within the year of opening. When the 2020 lockdowns closed Milan's dining rooms, Tokuyoshi began sending out home-delivery bento boxes inspired by the lunches his mother packed him as a child; what started as a stopgap never stopped, and the one-star address was reborn, under a new name, as something looser and more generous. The change of format cost the restaurant its star, but it kept Tokuyoshi, formerly nine years at Massimo Bottura's side at Osteria Francescana, cooking in the same room, now with a counter, a lounge and ordinary tables instead of white cloths. Today Bentōteca is Selected in the MICHELIN Guide, proof that the cooking itself never stopped being serious.

01The room and the setting

The bones of the old Ristorante Tokuyoshi are still visible: deep green walls, recycled-copper panelling cut to resemble tree bark by Algranti LAB, and blocks of Ollare stone shaped by Maddalena Selvini. What changed is the choreography of the room: guests can now book the bancone, a long chef's table facing the open kitchen where the grill and the tuna knives work in full view, the main dining room with standard table seating, or a low salotto, a lounge-style corner for a quieter meal.

02The chef

Yoji Tokuyoshi was born in Tottori, Japan, in 1977, and trained there before moving to Italy. He spent nine years as Massimo Bottura's sous-chef at Osteria Francescana, then opened his own Ristorante Tokuyoshi on Via San Calocero on 4 February 2015; a MICHELIN Star followed that December. A later restaurant he opened in Tokyo was awarded a star within six months of opening. Alongside Bentōteca, Tokuyoshi and his business partner Alice Yamada now run the bakery Pan, the sandwich counter Katsusanderia and the listening bar Mogo elsewhere in Milan.

Insider tip

Closed Mon–Tue; book ahead, especially for the counter seats facing the open kitchen.

03The cooking

The kitchen's signature is tuna, imported exclusively for Bentōteca from Tunipex, a fishing operation on Portugal's Algarve coast that freezes each catch at minus 60 degrees within three hours of landing, a speed that lets the kitchen use cuts rarely seen on Italian tables. Otoro, chutoro and akami arrive as sashimi, nigiri, grilled negima skewers or a self-assembled negitoro temaki, alongside A5 Wagyu seared over coals and served as nigiri or as Ichibo cooked on the grill with a sukiyaki sauce. The sharing omakase menu runs through the kitchen's classics and whatever is in season, with the option to upgrade the main course to a whole Drunken Pigeon for two or to A5 Kyoto Wagyu.

04Wine and drinks

The cellar runs mostly on natural wine and sake, built around small producers chosen for the story behind each bottle.

05When to go and booking

Bentōteca is closed Monday and Tuesday. According to the restaurant's own website in October 2026, it serves dinner only on Wednesday and Thursday, from 19:00 to 22:30, and lunch and dinner from Friday to Sunday, 12:30 to 14:30 and 19:00 to 22:30. Tables are booked directly through the restaurant's site, with groups of seven or more directed to a separate request page; a cover charge of 4 EUR and water at 4 EUR are listed on the printed menu.

06The neighbourhood

Via San Calocero sits in the quiet triangle between Conca del Naviglio and Porta Genova, a short walk from the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio and the bars of the Navigli. It is a residential, unflashy corner of Milan, the kind of address that rewards a deliberate booking rather than a wander-in, which suits a restaurant that was built, more than once, to survive by changing shape.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.