Section L Shimbashi West

Being originally located in the grounds of Seishoji Temple is why Daigo began serving shojin ryori. What Nomura inherits as the restaurant’s fourth-generation owner is shojin ryori for gracious service. Note that dried bonito flakes are used in the broth, so the meals are not completely vegetarian. The nutrition and flavour of the vegetables and the sukiya architecture put the mind at ease. Relax and enjoy this moment of tranquillity.

The long table bears a close resemblance to the dining tables of European nobility. Dinner is served table d’hôte: guests gather around a single large table, sharing the joy of good food and conversation. Reading the mood of the era, Chef Hiroyasu Kawate serves up delicious food and eco-consciousness, actively incorporating plant-based ingredients. The choice of vegetarian dishes as main meals is a new twist. Whether vegetarian or vegan, the fare blazes a fresh trail in vegetable cuisine.

Sometimes our connections intervene to change our lives. Harutaka Takahashi’s mischievous youth in Asahikawa took a turn for the better when, through a tempura master who was a close friend of his potter uncle, he landed a job at Sukiyabashi Jiro. Like Ravel’s Bolero, sushi here is presented with a particular rhythm, building toward a crescendo of sweetness, sourness and temperature in harmony. Destiny is in the taste and texture of every piece of sushi at Harutaka.

The food culture of Hong Kong is summed up in a simple proverb: Sik dak hai fuk: “Eating is a blessing.” The Hong Kong–born chef, known only as ‘Tommy’, delights in staging the daily ritual of gathering around the dinner table and merrily sharing a meal. He puts each ingredient on display as he cooks heaping platters of food and shares it out among his guests. Freshly roasted pork fillet and crispy chicken are flavours straight from his native city.

‘L’Osier’ means ‘The Willow’. The name comes from the willow trees that once symbolised Ginza and is a nod to the shop’s founding location. When the doors open, guests are greeted by a glass artwork depicting a willow tree. Half a century has passed since the restaurant opened, but it has never stopped innovating. Chef Olivier Chaignon cultivates relationships with producers around the country, creating French cuisine at the cutting edge of the era.

A detached, glass-walled house stands across from a park; ascend the stairs adjacent to the kitchen and you reach a dining room with a Scandinavian interior. The prix fixe menu begins with tea in season. The restaurant’s name refers to ‘friends who will drink tea together always’, referring to the circle of guests, staff and food producers. The chef’s aim is to serve food that is simple yet original. Both service and kitchen staff bring the food to your table.

What Kanako Wakimoto aims to deliver is simple, honest deliciousness. Ingredients in season are picked when they are ripe, reaping maximum nutrition in each season. The chef’s sweeping selection of meat dishes, rice dishes and sweets stems from her earnest desire to please the customer. To suggest closeness to nature, Wakimoto named her restaurant Sorahana, ‘Sky Flower’. As she devotes herself to her cooking, Wakimoto is in her element, like flowers blooming in a field under the sky.