On an evening in late March, a group of well-heeled guests arrive at the Nippondaira Hotel, on a high plateau in the center of Shizuoka City, for the fifth edition of Dining Out, a series of creative pop-up dinners held at various locations around the country. The theme this time was hanami — the tradition of holding convivial gatherings beneath flowering cherry trees — and the event commenced in a Japanese-style room with tatami-mat flooring and a view overlooking the garden. Rows of cherry trees lined the grounds, and beyond the bay the snow-covered summit of Mount Fuji peeked through the clouds.