Avant-garde chef Grant Achatz and his team from Alinea are in Tokyo for a three-week residency.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 4, 2025
Eat your balloons: The culinary theater of Grant Achatz comes to Tokyo
The man behind Chicago’s iconic Alinea restaurant shares insights on modernist cuisine and his Tokyo pop-up.
Intrigued by Japanese wines, Burgundy winemaker Etienne de Montille decided to explore Hokkaido's wine scene, eventually setting up his outpost in Hakodate in 2017.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 3, 2025
Japan’s first foreign wine investor plants its roots in Hokkaido
Burgundy’s Domaine de Montille has opened a winery in Hakodate — a vote of confidence in the region’s terroir.
The autumn eggplant works well in stir-fry dishes because its moisture-rich texture absorbs oil.
Autumn eggplants offer a juicy start to the season
Packed with a higher water content than its summer counterpart, the tender vegetable is a great choice to soak up the sauce in your stir-fry.
Tokyo's current crop of three-Michelin-starred establishments includes six Japanese restaurants, five specializing in French cuisine and one that does Chinese cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 27, 2025
Tokyo retains Michelin crown with 160 starred restaurants for 2026
This year’s figure, though 10 fewer than the year prior, does little to dent the capital’s reputation as a leading gourmet destination.
Chef Shota Itoi’s innovative take on modern French cuisine at Auberge Eaufeu elevates the produce of rural Ishikawa Prefecture.
Auberge Eaufeu brings French flair to a quiet village in Ishikawa
Housed in a former elementary school, the restaurant is a brilliant showcase of the creative mind of chef Shota Itoi.
Bartender and raconteur Shingo Gokan wants his new Tokyo bar, Sangai, to tell the story of Japan's terroir.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Sep 23, 2025
With new Tokyo bar, Shingo Gokan's bartending journey comes full circle
After a nomadic career, a charismatic bartender now finds home to be a vibrant source of tippling inspiration.
Filled with red bean paste and covered in "kinako" soy flour, green "zunda" soybean mash and black sesame, "o-hagi" sticky rice balls offer a delicious interplay of sweet and savory flavors.
Celebrating autumn with timeless sticky rice balls
Filled with red bean paste and sheathed in various coatings, the spherical sweets evoke the gentle mood of the season.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building