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Andrew Lee
Originally from Hiroshima, chef Kenichi Nishi moved to Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, to have better access to the top-flight seafood of Sasue Maeda.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Nov 17, 2024
Chisou Nishi Kenichi: Modern French with unrivaled Shizuoka seafood
When a chef relocates to be within walking distance of his favorite fishmonger, you know the fish must be truly special.
The dining room at Ca'enne is as authentically rustic as the ingredients — all from Nagano Prefecture's Yatsugatake region — that chef Noriyuki Usui cooks with.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Oct 20, 2024
Ca’enne: Into the Yatsugatake mountains for Nagano’s freshest produce
For a restaurant that only uses ingredients from a landlocked region, there is a surprising amount of excellent fish on chef Noriyuki Usui’s menu.
Through trial and error, Tashi Gyamtso and his team meticulously selected a variety of herbs and vegetables best suited to Yufuin’s unique altitude, climate and soil conditions — and which now form the backbone of Jimgu's menu.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Sep 22, 2024
Jimgu: A farm-driven restaurant of outstanding local variety
Three years before chef Tashi Gyamtso served his first meal at Jimgu, he arrived in Oita Prefecture to build the farm that stocks his kitchen today.
Moved by an experience with a local hunter, Shota Sasaki has since focused on elevating the image of game meat in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Aug 11, 2024
Elezo Esprit: A visceral celebration of Hokkaido’s wild game
Game meat specialist Elezo Esprit has hunters on staff who are directed to ensure the animals they supply arrive at the butchery within an hour of being killed.
Completed in 1889, the original Yebisu brewery finally has a worthy successor in the neighborhood that still bears the beer's name.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 1, 2024
A new brew for Ebisu, the town that beer made
Ebisu and its beer are unique among communities with drinking histories. Here, the beer named the town.
Despite Japan's still-nascent domestic winemaking scene, wine drinkers in the country have long enjoyed an obsession with obtaining certifications around the beverage.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 17, 2024
What’s driving Japan’s love affair with wine certifications?
Studying wine is an extremely popular pastime in Japan — despite the number of students without a professional need to do so.
In August 2019, Toru Takamatsu became the youngest master sommelier in history at just 24 years old.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 21, 2024
Japan’s first master sommelier dreams of Hokkaido wine glory
Why would a master sommelier go from Michelin-starred restaurants to the hands-on life of an apprentice winemaker in Hokkaido?

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition