APA Hotel Ginza Kyobashi Tokyo Eki Yaesu Minamiguchi

A sign with a crane’s head in profile against the sun marks the modern Japanese exterior. Enter the dining room, and piped jazz music fills an interior decorated with Western paintings. Red and white keynotes in the décor denote the rising sun. Cuisine is ‘modern classic’, a theme born of the sensibility the chef cultivated overseas. The aim is to offer modulation in temperature, beguiling aromas, and a light, comfortable feeling after dining. Refined items of refreshing originality suggest the future of Japanese cuisine.

A tempura eatery run by a father and his two sons. Supplied with fish in season and fresh vegetables, The chef expresses the turning of the seasons through his ingredients. Items are lightly battered and fried in cold-pressed sesame oil to bring forward the flavours of the tempura pieces. Two friers at different temperatures are used according to the needs of each dish; occasionally an item is double-fried, first in medium-hot oil, and then in hot oil. With the experience and skills of a craftsman honed over many years, the chef unerringly delivers the flavours of each season.

The chef’s love of beef began when he was a boy, when his father would cook thick-cut steaks for him. He is a beef evangelist, proclaiming its appeal to the world. His decision to create a ‘meat kappo’ arose from his training in kaiseki. Wagyu beef is used in every Japanese preparation style, including nigiri sushi, char-grilled and shabu-shabu. The beauty of the traditional building, the kimono-clad service and the colourful dinnerware all add to the ambience. Through beef cuisine, Oniku Karyu is spreading the word about Japanese culture.

A restaurant by Dominique Bouchet, an advocate of ‘tradition with progress’. The kitchen is entrusted to a Japanese chef. The two menus offer distinct concepts: ‘Générations’ expresses a particularly Japanese sense of seasonality through the ingredients, while ‘Héritage’ comprises specialities from his time in France, reflecting Bouchet’s desire to pass his legacy on to the next generation.

The themes here are richness and flavours. The flavour of kombu kelp is added to soup stock and other ingredients, creating culinary synergies. The chef’s approach is to focus on the foods of Japan and enhance their creativity. The cuisine weaves together the ‘three harmonies’: harmony with the changing of the seasons, harmony of flavours and gentleness of flavours. Presentation is colourful, flavours light. Traditional craftworks are used for serving vessels and cutlery, proclaiming the culture of Japan.

Menu items are named after the traditional 24 divisions of the seasons, following the celestial longitude of the sun. Ingredients take on a poetic expression as well, and scenes of intersection between nature and human activity convey a wealth of feeling: people preparing food, or eating it. The feelings such images evoke will vary from person to person. Through the sensibilities of Lionel Beccat, we feel the bonds between humanity and nature.

The young kitchen team is a blur of motion at this counter kappo establishment. Believing that dining should be fun, the owner greets guests warmly, fostering a congenial atmosphere. The menu sparkles with originality. Oil-cooked dishes, a must-try, extend beyond deep-fried foods. Tsukuri are par-cooked in oil, in a technique known as aburadoshi. Tempura is fried before your eyes, so their aroma and sizzle reach you before the food does. Kakiage, tempura shrimp over rice in a clay pot, draws the meal to a close.