No preparation is spared in order to enjoy the unique lifestyle of the village!
Authentic Neapolitan pizza from a wood-fired oven,
Furthermore, everything from the interior to the sound system is handmade.
Experience the slow-life spirit at Paper Moon.

Prologue: A Cafe in a Village

Blending in with the scenery of the village, where trees grow thick and houses stand one by one, there is a modern building that stands out conspicuously, with bright light spilling in through its large glass doors.

I want to make authentic Neapolitan pizza that pursues uniqueness, which can only be realized in the quiet and secluded village of Satomura! He renovated his house with his own hands four years ago and opened the café, which had been his dream for some time. He has been working hard to create an atmosphere that matches the peaceful atmosphere of Satomura, not only in the interior design and furnishings, but also in the area surrounding the restaurant.

This belief can also be seen in the pizza, the main item on the café menu. Of course, the "wood-fired oven" in which the pizza is baked is also handmade by the owner, Mr. Kono. The walls are thickly walled to enhance heat conductivity and heat retention, and the wood he chopped himself is used to bake the pizza at the optimal temperature.

The restaurant believes in the importance of balancing not only the temperature control of the wood-fired oven, ingredients, and cooking methods, but also all aspects of space creation, including the background music that plays in the restaurant, and carefully creates each dish to attract visitors.

 

Cafe Introduction 1appearance

The stylish building, casually decorated in earth colors without spoiling the scenery of the village, is impressive. In addition to the café room, there is a wood-fired oven building, an oven barbecue space, a private building, and an audio room surrounding the courtyard, making the café feel like an integrated facility. It is like a single facility.

▲Oven barbecue space in the courtyard. This is also handmade!

The entrance door was also arranged by Kono himself for the café.

The firewood is spread out like an object on the exterior walls, as it is consumed in about two containers in one day.

 

Cafe Introduction 2store interior

With its pure white walls and colorful chairs, it has the atmosphere of a café in the suburbs of Italy. The ceiling and walls of the restaurant have been repainted, the floor has been remodeled, and even the table sets are handmade by the owner, Kono.

The owner, Mr. Kono, connected his own vacuum tubes to the handmade speakers to transform the sound into a soft texture. Comfortable Jazz music is playing in the background.

 

Cafe Menu 1Authentic Neapolitan pizza baked in our original wood-fired oven

Among the various types of pizza (Italian style) and pizza (American style), "Paper Moon" pursues the authentic Neapolitan pizza loved in the Naples region of Italy. The original blend of flour, salt, yeast, and water is kneaded by hand, the dough is slowly matured, stretched thinly by hand, and baked instantly in a wood-fired oven heated to 400℃.

A matured dough will not tear even with moderate force. Neapolitan pizza is basically rolled out by hand without much sprinkling of flour, and the air created by fermentation is collected at the edges to form a "cornichone" mountain, similar to a bread mimi. This creates a "cornichonne" that forms the edges of the dough and prevents the material from flowing. The ability to successfully create this cornichone is a major factor in determining the taste of the bread.

By using a high-heat wood-fired oven, only the surface of the dough is baked thoroughly, trapping moisture inside, creating the best texture balance of crispy chewiness and chewy texture. The wood-fired kiln is built with thick walls to ensure an even balance of baking temperature.
Incidentally, during business hours, they keep wood burning in the wood-fired oven to keep the heat going so that they can bake immediately upon receiving an order.

 

Cafe Menu 2Pick up a recommended wood-fired pizza

Wood-fired oven pizza Drink set (1,100 yen) A la carte 980 yen

margherita

You can see the cornichone rising softly. This standard pizza is based on a simple tomato sauce made from Italian tomatoes seasoned with salt and topped with a generous amount of stretchy cheese. Just looking at the elastic and stretchy cheese as shown in the image is enough to get you excited.

 

genovese

The paper moon is filled with a genovese sauce that is fresh from basil and rich from nuts and cheese, and topped with mozzarella cheese and thick slices of bacon. The center of the dish is soft and tender, melting into a tender melt-in-your-mouth flavor.

 

Calzone (+300 yen)

Pizza that means 'wrapped in something.' Tuna, cream, cheese, and onion are wrapped in dough, topped with tomato sauce and cheese, and baked. When the dough is broken, hot and juicy ingredients melt out from inside. The same amount of dough is used as for the pizza, but the texture is thicker and the ingredients are wrapped luxuriously, making it quite filling.

 

Apple Pizza

This dessert-type pizza is carefully spread with sweet and sour apples cut into thin fan-shaped slices and balanced with cream and cinnamon. It looks like a large rose, and many people exclaim in admiration the moment it is brought in front of them. The basic amount of dough is not too much, so it is light enough that even a woman can eat a piece in no time.

 

Other Menu

(with drink 1.100 yen, single item 980 yen, single drink 380 yen)
*Contents may change depending on the season.

■Marinara
■ Mushrooms
■Mushroom cream
■ Potato Cream
■Focaccia (600 yen per piece)
Quattro formaggi (+200 yen)
■Seafood (+400 yen)

Dessert (+220 yen)

■Coffee
■Cola
■Orange and grapefruit
■Black tea
■Oolong tea

 

interview (i.e. television, newspaper, etc.)Toshio Kono, Owner

If it is not a one-of-a-kind café that can only be enjoyed here, I don't think anyone will give it a second look. We would like to create a space that matches the countryside and pursue authentic pizza, while challenging ourselves to create a new menu.

Interview in private audio room

Q. When will you open?

A. "This May (2017) will mark our fifth year."

Q. Why did you decide to open a cafe?

A. ”I had worked in a café when I was younger, and I had been interested in it ever since then. However, while I was working, I knew that I wanted to open a café someday. A lot of time passed, but when a road connecting the prefectural road to this area was built, I continued to work on the family business, while building the building, parking lot, etc. first, and then proceeded with my plan.

Q. The restaurant business is a completely different world from the watch industry.

A. ”Of course, I was worried about whether people would come to such a rural area, but I also knew that I had to create a one-of-a-kind café that would make people want to come to this rural area.

Q. The owner's attention to detail can be felt everywhere.

A. "It's not so much that I am obsessive, but more that I have a tendency to feel uncomfortable unless I do what I think is right. The first step was to create the atmosphere. I hand-crafted the parking lot to create a rustic atmosphere that matched the landscape of the village, and I spent an hour cutting down the bamboo hill that blocked the view before I went to work. It took about four months to open up the view. The bamboos were lined up and used as the exterior walls of the parking lot. We also made signboards and objects in the garden out of railroad sleepers that had been abandoned. Next is the inside of the store. We renovated and designed the interior to create a relaxed atmosphere without being too flashy. Finally, the most important aspect is the menu. We focused on authentic Neapolitan pizza, and learned the technique through trial and error. I have always loved making things, and cooking is an extension of that, so I imitated the techniques of various pizza chefs while creating the current form in my own style.

Q. I was surprised by the huge amount of firewood outside.

A. "Firewood is a necessity not only for the café but also for life here, so every day I find time to chop firewood. When I see a large pile of firewood, I feel a sense of relief, as if life has been restored. Many people come to us for advice about moving to the area, yearning for the slow life in the countryside, but to realize the slow life, you have to do hard work every day as your life's work, so I don't recommend it unless you are very determined. ......"

Q. Another thing I am interested in is an audio set that uses vacuum tubes.

A. "In my private life, I enjoy listening to JAZZ, and I have a private audio room in an old shed that I renovated. My desire to listen to better and better sound led me to pay attention to the speakers, and since I am good at detailed handiwork to repair clocks, I use vacuum tubes to convert digital sound into I convert it into a soft analog sound and listen to it through my pride and joy speakers. With such soft sounds as background music, I think our customers will feel even more relaxed during their time in this café!

Q. You have an interesting structure with not only a café on the premises, but also a separate building for your home and audio room via a courtyard.

A. "As you can see, there are few houses and streetlights in the countryside, so when we built this house, we wanted to create the image of a single "town" by separating the main house, the children's room, and the warehouse, so that the light would be as bright as possible. Incidentally, the café space is in the building that used to be the children's room."

Q. What is your outlook for the future?

A. "Currently we only have a pizza menu, but we are thinking of separating lunch and dinner hours and taking reservations at night. Since we have an oven in our courtyard, we'd like to be able to offer pasta and other oven dishes."

 

 

epilogueAfter the interview

The elation when the pizza was brought in front of me and the excitement when I ate it were not only due to the deliciousness of the pizza itself, but also to the scenery of the satoyama I saw before arriving at the cafe, and the simple yet stylish atmosphere that can only be created in the countryside. I was impressed by the core strength of the owner, who continues to sharpen his ”one and only one” skills without compromise. We thank the owner, Mr. Kono, for taking time out of his busy schedule to cooperate with us.

The owner's dog also welcomes customers in the back of the store. Quite the opposite of his strong body shape and slightly tough looks, he is a very gentle and clever dog.

 

Access

Address: 962 Shimoyama, Chitose-cho, Bungo-Ono City, Oita Prefecture
Phone: 0974-37-2115
Hours of Operation:
Lunch time 11:00-15:00 (Lo 14:00)
Evening reservations only 18:00-21:00 (Lo 20:00)
Closed: Thursday, 1st and 3rd Wednesday

From the back of JR Mie Station in Mie-machi, Bungo-Ono City, take Prefectural Road No. 519 leading to the "Chitose Interchange" on National Road No. 57, and follow the path to the mountains with "Sanpo, the Village of Mountain Pass" as a landmark.

MAP

962 Shimoyama, Chitose-cho, Bungo-Ono, Oita 879-7413, Japan

 

Interview and editorial staff

Model Report: Nozomi Nakamoto
Photography and production: VOKE Ltd.