A young woman heads to Rome to confront her mother and winds up falling in love with an older man.
Creative Staff
Writer/Artist: Natsume Ono
Translation: Joe Yamazaki
What They Say
A charming tale of a mother/daughter reunion, a burgeoning romance, and a little restaurant in Rome. In exchange for playing “the daughter of an old friend,” Olga offers Nicoletta a place to live and an apprenticeship at the restaurant. Nicoletta fits in well among the vibrant personalities at Casetta Dell’Orso. She gets along particularly well with the kindly headwaiter, Claudio, a divorced man who, after years, has still never taken off his wedding ring. As Nicoletta’s feelings for Claudio become complicated, she finds a sympathetic ear in Olga, leading the estranged pair to form a friendship neither expected. But as they grow closer, the pressure exerted by the secret they share becomes too much to bear.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Casetta dell’Orso is one of Rome’s most popular restaurants. The food is delicious, but most of its female clientele come for the staff, entirely comprised of older, bespectacled gentlemen.
One day, a young woman shows up for neither the food nor the staff. She’s Nicoletta, the daughter of Olga, the owner’s wife. For years, Olga has kept Nicoletta and her previous marriage a secret from her husband, but now Nicoletta is fed up and out to expose her mother. However, Nicoletta becomes intrigued by the ristorante and its head waiter Claudio especially. Wanting to get closer to him, she offers Olga a deal: her silence for an apprenticeship at the ristorante.
Ristorante Paradiso will either hook you or bore you immediately. There’s no “fate of the world depends on it” premise—just dysfunctional family dynamics and a girl seeking a relationship with a much older man who’s experienced his own disappointments in life.
Though the story starts off looking like it’s headed towards revenge, it quickly moves away from the tension between Nicoletta and her mother and focuses instead on Nicoletta’s desire to discover love for herself. That yearning opens Nicoletta’s eyes to what she calls “different shapes of love” as she observes her mother’s marriage, learns about Claudio’s past relationships, and sorts through her own feelings.
For those familiar with the anime, the manga covers all the major points of the television series. With the exception of Lorenzo and Gigi, it doesn’t include the backstory of the wait staff so you don’t get to know Furio, Teo, Vito, and Luciano as well as the others. However, there is an ad at the back of the manga for Gente: The People of Ristorante Paradiso, which I presume covers those vignettes.
The manga also ends as the anime does, which was for me a disappointment. Ono-sensei makes Lorenzo out to be the best husband in the universe, but his reaction at Olga’s birthday party made me mad, quite frankly. (After all she did, Olga deserved much worse.) That aside, Nicoletta’s personal journey alongside people in so many different stages of life (single, married, widowered, divorced) was a satisfying read. I found the manga a nice change of pace from my usual high school, first love fare.
In Summary:
Although the youth of its heroine might lead you to think Ristorante Paradiso has all the sugar and zip of a can of soda, the flavors of this manga are more subtle, like a vintage that must be savored to be fully enjoyed. There are outbursts here and there, but the story’s less about histrionics and more about discovering the unique personalities of the ristorante and the pasts that shaped them.
This manga is rated Teen Plus, which puzzles me. It is geared for an older audience, but there’s no nudity, no swearing, and even when Nicoletta throws herself at Claudio, they both remain fully clothed.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: C+
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: March 16th, 2010
MSRP: $12.99
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In addition to writing reviews here, I’ve authored a number of short works, including several stories in Cricket magazine. I also have novel-length projects in the works. Find links to my works at my blog: sqeries.wordpress.com.
