Is it a brunch spot or an Italian restaurant? Tucked at the corner of Zhongyi and Changrong Streets, the fusion bistro “Brunch Osteria” defies a single label. The simplest description: an Italian restaurant that serves all-day brunch. After eight years in Taipei’s dining scene, the chef is bringing fusion cuisine to Chiayi. The word “Osteria” signals Italian roots, yet the name “Hua Chien Tsung” is borrowed from a Japanese kimono swatch—much like the crowd-favorite seared-cod roe smoked-salmon pasta, a Japanese-twist pasta you never tire of. Classics get remixed: the kitchen folds salted-egg yolk into traditional carbonara, balances saltiness with pumpkin, and swaps thin bacon for thick slabs for a meatier bite. And the experimentation doesn’t stop at Italian—on the owner’s suggestion, the Dutch baby pancake comes in a Taiwanese “taro mash, salted-egg yolk, pork-sung” flavor and is flying off the griddle. Photo: Chiayi City Government Tourism & News Dept. | Photographer: Margot
