东京大酒店

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.

The name combines two of the four characters of Haruhiko Yamamoto’s name. The chef’s approach to cuisine and commitment to entertaining guests were both learned from his mentor in Gifu. He is also enthusiastic about guiding the next generation, as shown by the smiles and positive attitude of his young crew. Yamamoto may surprise with innovative dishes, but with wansashi—the pairing of sashimi and soup, considered the essence of Japanese cuisine—he stays true to tradition. Each item is the product of painstaking effort the customer never sees.

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.

A noren of Tokushima indigo, Tokushima sakes, fish from Naruto and Awa beef make Hiroyuki Kanda’s roots clear. Selecting ingredients carefully and applying minimal preparation is Kanda’s style of cooking. For example, rice should be cooked to perfection, each grain distinct, with small holes like crab burrows dotting the surface. The chef’s motto is ‘subtle flavour is true flavour’, and it is in the subtle flavours that depth of character is known.

This restaurant has been in business since the days of the Edo shogunate. Kanejiro Kanemoto is its fifth-generation proprietor, committed to a life of craftsmanship. Guided by the belief that eel is ‘a delicacy for the people,’ he has worked to share its appeal. With practiced craftsmanship, he patiently steams the eel to drip out excess fat then grills it without seasoning in the shirayaki style, or dips it in sauce and broils it to create beguilingly aromatic kabayaki. The dipping sauce has evolved over the generations, with the proportions of soy sauce and mirin shifting according to changi

The Japanese love of small spaces is deeply connected with the spirit of the tea ceremony and its cultural background. The counter, affording just the right distance between guests and Chef Toshiya Kadowaki, seats just six. The private room, whose low ceiling suggests a tearoom, is so intimate that guests can feel each other’s breathing. The menu features dishes where ingredients in season come together to create fleeting sensations that linger in the memory forever. Truffle rice, enriching the meal in both aroma and flavour, is a case in point.

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.