Tag - destination-restaurants

 
 

DESTINATION RESTAURANTS

When chef Yoshihiro Kitagawa returned to his hometown of Matsusaka to open Shibousai Kitagawa in 2015, he chose a tranquil location on the rural fringe of the city.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 22, 2024
Shibousai Kitagawa: Creative Chinese in the home of Matsusaka wagyu
Alongside the superlative array of vegetable appetizers, a focal point at Shibousai Kitagawa is the revered local Matsusaka wagyu.
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.
Chef Hironori Fujii moved his restaurant, Oryouri Fujii, to the Iwase district of Toyama City in 2019, finding the ideal setting in its historic surroundings.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Aug 4, 2024
Oryouri Fujii: High-end Japanese cuisine in a picture-perfect Toyama setting
Chef Hironori Fujii will serve according to the seasons: ‘ayu’ (sweetfish) and ‘nodoguro’ (blackthroat perch) in summer; snow crab and yellowtail in winter.
When it is in season, 'maguro' (tuna) from the Sea of Japan is one of the mainstay menu items at Tokiwa Sushi.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jul 21, 2024
Tokiwa Sushi: Niigata sushi master with a hometown, locavore focus
"Tuna from Niigata Prefecture is the mainstay of our menu, but it’s only available three months a year," chef Kosuke Kobayashi explains.
Chef Hiroyuki Kosugi’s seasonal salad brings together 10 different local Okinawan vegetables, such as 'goya' (bitter melon), star fruit and 'urizun' (square beans).
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jul 7, 2024
6 Six: Innovative French fare from an Okinawan paradise
"My aim is to create dishes that will not be outshone by the view outside my windows," says chef Hiroyuki Kosugi.
Founder and owner Kazunori Otowa (left) in the kitchen of his eponymous restaurant together with his two sons, head chef Hajime Otowa (center) and restaurant manager Sou Otowa.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jun 22, 2024
Kazunori Otowa: Tochigi’s patriarch of French fine dining
Superb cuisine, family values and deep regional roots have elevated Restaurant Otowa to its lofty position.
Chef Yusuke Murayama’s creative cuisine at Pas Mal spotlights the premium produce of Yamagata Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jun 8, 2024
Pas Mal: French cuisine spotlighting Yamagata’s premium produce
Chef Yusuke Murayama’s signature dessert is a framboise mousse the color of glossy lipstick rouge in the shape of a mouth.
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Apr 26, 2024
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
Chef Ryohei Ikemi will open dinner with a warming soup featuring vegetables from Aomori's Lake Towada and close with a local Kyogoku apple gelato.
In 2017, chef Shinsaku Suzuki moved to the Yatsugatake region of Yamanashi Prefecture with his wife, Emi Ishida, after locating the perfect premises: a splendid 170-year-old traditional Japanese house.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Apr 6, 2024
Ai to Ibukuro: Terroir of Yamanashi's uplands
With a name that translates to “Love and Stomach,” this rural restaurant not far from Tokyo delivers with flying colors on both counts.
Chef Harutomo Hagi's self-named restaurant in Iwaki was selected as the 2023 Japan Times Destination Restaurant of the Year.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Mar 10, 2024
Hagi: French restaurant leads Fukushima revival
The Japan Times’ 2023 Restaurant of the Year is a sterling example of Fukushima’s slow and steady post-disaster revival.
Chef Natsuki Suzuki opened Naz in the fall of 2020 on the rural fringe of the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Feb 11, 2024
Naz: Bounty from landlocked Nagano's rivers and pastures
Dining at Naz is like sitting down at a bespoke dinner club for a meal catered exclusively for you. And what a meal it is.
Chef Masato Nishihara chose Nara as the site for his restaurant, Tsukumo, for its antiquity, its proximity to nature and its ancient connections with overseas cultures.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 3, 2023
Tsukumo: Japanese cuisine inspired by Nara's ancient roots
Like the treasures housed inside Nara's Shosoin repository, it may be years before chef Masato Nishihara reprises some of his exquisite dishes at Tsukumo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jun 11, 2023
Villa del Nido: Local produce, Italian technique, volcanic backdrop
Tucked away among the smallholdings of a rural community in Unzen City, it seems an unlikely setting for Villa del Nido’s sophisticated, Italian-accented, farm-to-table cuisine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Mar 12, 2023
Dewaya: Sansai cuisine worthy of a pilgrimage
Chef Haruki Sato prizes the freshest ingredients, even if that means digging them up in the dead of winter.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Feb 5, 2023
Yoichi Sagra: Feasting in Hokkaido wine country
Despite its occasionally inhospitable climate, Hokkaido is home to superb wines — as well as cuisine more than worthy of those vintages.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jan 15, 2023
L’Atelier de Noto: Peninsular cuisine with a French accent
Located about two hours from tourist-heavy Kanazawa, this modern French restaurant tucked away in tranquil Wajima takes full advantage of the Noto Peninsula's bounty of land and sea.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 4, 2022
At Akai, tranquil dining without distractions
Minutes from the sacred island of Miyajima, chef Kenji Akai's cuisine showcases its own divine simplicity.

Longform

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