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Tokyo Weekender
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tokyo Weekender
The World's 50 Best Restaurants List 2025 Features Four From Japan
Tokyo is well known as one of the world's culinary capitals. It has the most Michelin stars across the globe, beating cities like New York City and Paris. From modest, hole-in-the-wall izakaya to elegant omakase sushi establishments and innovative fusion cuisine, Japan's capital holds endless intrigue for gastronomes everywhere. Eateries in Tokyo regularly feature on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. One of the most respected and influential scales in the culinary world, the list is produced by the UK media company William Reed. With a panel of over 1,000 experts made up of food writers, critics, chefs and well-travelled gourmets, the organization releases it every year to celebrate historic and unique culinary experiences. This year, four restaurants in Japan — three from Tokyo and one from Osaka — made the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Read on to learn about each establishment's specialty. List of Contents: Sézanne (No. 7) Narisawa (No. 21) Florilège (No. 36) La Cime (No. 44) Related Posts courtesy of four seasons hotel tokyo at marunouchi courtesy of four seasons hotel tokyo at marunouchi courtesy of four seasons hotel tokyo at marunouchi Sézanne (No. 7) Two-Michelin-starred Sézanne opened in July 2021, on the seventh floor of the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi. With British chef Daniel Calvert at the helm, the modern French restaurant quickly generated buzz for its incredible 12-course tasting menu that pays tribute to Asia's deep culinary cultures. Calvert previously led the acclaimed neo-Parisian bistro Belon in Hong Kong, after honing his skills at New York's Per Se and Epicure in Paris. At Sézanne, he curates each dining experience to reflect Japan's finest seasonal ingredients, highlighting elements such as bouillabaisse with saffron from Saga Prefecture and fugu (puffer fish) from Yamanashi Prefecture. Narisawa Dish "Satoyama Scenery and Essence of the Forest" Narisawa Dessert dish "Camellia and Koji" Narisawa (No. 21) Most gastronomes around the world would have heard of satoyama cuisine, and chef Yoshihiro Narisawa's vanguard cooking style. Traditionally, satoyama refers to rural landscapes where humans live in harmony with nature; in recent years, it has come to symbolize sustainability, a deep respect for the earth and the integration of humans and the natural world. Established in 2003 in Tokyo's elegant neighborhood of Aoyama, Narisawa has an omakase-style menu that fuses a variety of culinary techniques with the concept of satoyama. The two-Michelin-starred restaurant has earned international recognition for its quality, innovation and commitment to environmentally conscious gourmet dining — securing a Michelin Green Star, 14 consecutive years on the World's Best Restaurants list and numerous other accolades. You can learn more about Narisawa from our conversation with Chef Narisawa . courtesy of florilège courtesy of florilège Florilège (No. 36) Situated in the stylish Azabudai Hills, the two-Michelin-starred Florilège is a creative French-Japanese restaurant led by chef Hiroyasu Kawate, who comes from a family of chefs. He trained at Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier, France, before working as a sous-chef at Quintessence in Tokyo. Kawate has a strong focus on sustainability when it comes to curating his menu, highlighting locally sourced ingredients and experimenting with plant-forward tasting menus. The restaurant promises to portray 'a new side of vegetables that everyone knows,' reducing the amount of meat, fish and dairy products used. courtesy of la cime courtesy of la cime La Cime (No. 44) Modern French restaurant La Cime is located in the business district of Honmachi, which is considered the heart of Osaka. Established in 2010, the restaurant is headed by chef Yusuke Takada, who trained in Lyon and worked at renowned Parisian establishments such as Le Taillevent and Le Meurice. Takada gained global recognition after receiving the Inedit Damm Chefs' Choice Award in 2020. La Cime's menu spotlights seafood and produce from the Kansai region, as well as citrus and other ingredients from the subtropical island of Amami Oshima. The menu's signature dish is the Boudin Dog, a batter-fried boudin noir (blood sausage) colored with edible bamboo and charcoal. Related Posts Narisawa: Where Foraged Flavors Become Culinary Art Osaka's Best Restaurant and Bar Openings: Spring 2025 Michelin Guide Introduces New Restaurants in Kyoto and Osaka for 2025
Tokyo Weekender
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tokyo Weekender
Narisawa: Where Foraged Flavors Become Culinary Art
This article appeared in Tokyo Weekender Vol. 2, 2025. To read the entire issue, click here . Tucked away in an unassuming nook of the elegant neighborhood of Aoyama, Narisawa (stylized as NARISAWA) is an experimental fine dining restaurant acclaimed for its innovative and cerebral approach to sustainable cuisine. Narisawa's omakase-style menu fuses a variety of culinary techniques with the Japanese concept of satoyama. Traditionally, satoyama refers to rural landscapes where humans live in harmony with nature; in recent years, it has come to symbolize sustainability, a deep respect for the earth and the integration of humans and the natural world. Established by Chef Yoshihiro Narisawa in 2003, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant has earned international recognition for its quality, innovation and commitment to environmentally conscious gourmet dining — securing a Michelin Green Star, 14 consecutive years on the World's Best Restaurants list and numerous other accolades. Chef Narisawa A Pioneer of Fine Dining Narisawa grew up in the restaurant industry; it was a path he always wanted to follow. 'My family ran a restaurant, and I was constantly surrounded by delicious food bringing smiles to people's faces,' he says. 'I knew I wanted to inspire the same joy as a chef.' The chef's journey to become a master of his craft wasn't a straightforward one. Though Tokyo is today seen as one of the world's most glittering culinary capitals, with a whopping 183 Michelin-starred eateries, the city's fine dining scene didn't always possess its current abundance of cultural influences. At just 19 years old, Narisawa was among a group of bright-eyed Japanese chefs who ventured abroad during the bubble economy to train under foreign connoisseurs. What they brought back formed the basis for the explosion of tastes we associate with Tokyo today. 'I started my training in traditional Japanese cuisine before heading to Europe, where I felt I could gain more insight into the intricate, storied sphere of fine dining,' Narisawa explains. Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, he studied under some of the world's most revered chefs — including culinary legends Paul Bocuse and Joël Robuchon. In Harmony With Land and Sea Returning to Japan in 1996 after a transformative tenure in France, Italy and Switzerland, Narisawa opened his first French-inspired restaurant, La Napoule, in Kanagawa. It was only after he established his eponymous restaurant in Tokyo — originally named Les Créations de Narisawa — that the chef encountered satoyama culture and began to develop his signature culinary philosophy. While hand-selecting ingredients for his restaurant menu at a mountaintop farm in Nagano Prefecture, Narisawa was struck by the incredible quality of vegetables grown at an altitude of 1,000 meters, which some might assume to be unfavorable conditions. 'The location experiences drastic temperature changes between day and night, but this uncompromising climate is what cultivates the rich, uniquely delicious flavors of its produce,' Narisawa explains. This experience was formative for him, revealing the profound and complex relationship between the forces of nature and his work as a chef. 'I gained a new appreciation for the tremendous impact of the natural environment on our ingredients.' As Narisawa points out, 70% of the Japanese archipelago is covered in forests, meaning that space for cultivation is limited. As such, the people of Japan have always had a deep respect for natural resources and seasonal shifts, using only what they need. Narisawa defines this way of thinking as the heart of satoyama culture. 'Through our innovative satoyama cuisine, we pay homage to the wisdom of our ancestors,' he says. Narisawa Dessert dish 'Camellia and Koji,' which follows the ancestral technique of harnessing camellia ash to cultivate koji mold. The Art of Satoyama Driven by his deep respect for the natural world and a commitment to local ingredients, Narisawa is always exploring new ways to showcase foraged elements in a way that amplifies their inherent flavors. His culinary creations — inventive, intricate and at times astonishingly complex — aim to convey the spirit of nature through a thoughtful harmony of taste and presentation. For instance, the iconic Satoyama Scenery and Essence of the Forest dish uses various wild plants gathered in Ishikawa Prefecture, alongside other traditional Japanese ingredients, to create a gastronomic landscape: 'moss,' 'earth' and 'branches' composed of ingredients like dried tofu residue, bamboo charcoal and candied burdock root. Narisawa extracts the aroma and flavor of thinly shaved cedar and oak wood — a process similar to making dashi soup stock — to create the titular Essence of the Forest, served in a cup on the side. What is truly striking about Narisawa's vision of sustainability is that it extends beyond his culinary philosophy. The chef has been vocal about maintaining a sustainable work-life balance at his restaurant, going against the notoriously long hours and stressful lifestyles of restaurant staff around the world. 'We want to ensure that our staff can work in good health and balance work with family life,' he says. 'We have a closing time of 8 p.m. and have an efficient clean-up process to encourage staff to get proper rest.' This humanistic approach to management ultimately echoes the chef's core objective for the restaurant, which inspired his cooking journey all those years ago. 'We want guests who come to our restaurant to enjoy their meal and leave feeling happy. Simply put, I want to delight people through delicious food,' he states. More Info You can learn more about Chef Narisawa's food journey and recipes in his book Satoyama , photographed by Sergio Coimbra and published by Taschen. Narisawa reservations are available online . Related Posts Inside Den, Designated Asia's Best Restaurant in 2022 Omakase With Attitude at Hashida Tokyo Cucina Diesel Farm: Rustic Italian Cuisine With a High-Fashion Edge
