Food & Drink | Women of Taste Jun 13, 2020
Yubako Kamohara: Taking center counter at Tsurutokame
by Joan Bailey
Yubako Kamohara leads Japan’s only all-female kaiseki restaurant, Tsurutokame. But becoming an itamae chef wasn’t her original plan.
Food & Drink Mar 27, 2020
Asia's 50 Best Restaurants is a somber countdown for an industry and continent in crisis
by Robbie Swinnerton
In the latest edition of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants rankings, Singapore’s Odette has retained its No.1 position for a second straight year, ahead of The Chairman in Hong Kong and Tokyo’s Den. But the announcement on Tuesday was overshadowed by the escalating coronavirus ...
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Feb 1, 2020
'Untangling my Chopsticks': Searching for the origins of Japanese fine dining
by Stephen Mansfield
Engagingly written and well-researched, Victoria Abbott Riccardi's culinary memoir, "Untangling My Chopsticks," traces her year immersed in Kyoto's kaiseki culture.
Food & Drink Jan 7, 2020
Rakushin: A flavorful harmony of Japanese-Flemish cuisine
by J.J. O'Donoghue
It's Belgian-meets-Japanese for this collaborative four-hands meal organized by Arts Flanders Japan at Osaka's Rakushin.
People | WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN? Jul 6, 2019
Hitoshi Miyazawa: Taking a multicourse adventure in Australia
by Katherine Whatley
Kaiseki, the multicourse meal that is the height of refinement in Japanese cuisine is the modus operandi of Hitoshi Miyazawa, head chef for Ishizuka in Melbourne, Australia.
Food & Drink | OSAKA RESTAURANTS Mar 23, 2019
Rakushin: Some food can't be improved upon
by J.J. O'Donoghue
At Rakushin, kaiseki chef Shintaro Katayama's cuisine is flexible and curious even as it pays respect to the genre's historic canon.
Food & Drink | OSAKA RESTAURANTS Dec 22, 2018
Dinner and conversation with Tsutomu Nakajima
by J.J. O'Donoghue
Chef Tsutomu Nakajima of Sato no Ie Hanase on the importance of umami and why the flavor is at risk of vanishing.
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Dec 15, 2018
Nihonryori RyuGin: New address for a Tokyo classic
by Robbie Swinnerton
Even in Tokyo, a city that relentlessly reinvents itself, change never comes easy, no matter how celebrated a restaurant may be. The bigger the name, the greater the expectations, and few have larger reputations than Nihonryori RyuGin. Chef Seiji Yamamoto's contemporary take on Japan's traditional ...
Food & Drink Nov 3, 2018
A Michelin star in just six months for Ireland's first kaiseki restaurant
by J.J. O'Donoghue
Chef Takashi Miyazaki's Ichigo Ichie is Ireland's first kaiseki restaurant — albeit one that blends Japanese and Irish flavors. When it landed a Michelin star within its first year, the restaurant put Cork back on Europe's culinary map and brought Miyazaki instant international acclaim.
Food & Drink | OSAKA RESTAURANTS Jul 21, 2018
Kawahara: Thrilling, exciting, game-changing kaiseki
by J.J. O'Donoghue
At Kawahara, expect a multi-course kaiseki meal that presents seasonal foods in unexpected, playful ways.
Food & Drink | KYOTO RESTAURANTS Jul 7, 2018
Karatsu: Bold kaiseki cooking from a devotee to the art
by J.J. O'Donoghue
At Ayanokoji Karatsu, chef Shosaku Karatsu is bringing bold dishes and flavors to Kyoto's classic kaiseki scene.
Food & Drink | KYOTO RESTAURANTS Mar 10, 2018
Tai no Tai: Ambitious kaiseki that plays on the basics
by J.J. O'Donoghue
Chef Noriyuki Hashinaga's new outpost — Tai no Tai — opened less than a year ago and it is close to his eponymous restaurant in many senses of the word. Both restaurants are on Takoyakushi-dori avenue in central Kyoto, near enough that Hashinaga could conceivably ...