Narisawa

Michelin ☆☆

Yoshihiro Narisawa’s elegant, minimalist restaurant and suited staff serving delicate, nature-focused dishes using seasonal ingredients drawn from Japan’s rich pantry are just some of the elements that have earned Narisawa his dedicated following and the accolade of the number 1 restaurant in Asia. But it’s his wild imagination and sense of drama that have pushed this restaurant to the very top of the class

Narisawa opened his restaurant in 2003 after previously running a restaurant in Kanagawa from 1996. Prior to that he trained in France, Italy and Switzerland from 1988, in restaurants such as Paul Bocuse and also working under Joel Robuchon. He is noted for his use of modern cooking techniques in a country where cuisine is often deeply rooted in tradition. In 1997 he collaborated with a university to try and work out the optimal temperature for cooking meat, concluding that slow cooking at 60C was optimal. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2008, and a second in 2010.

The style of cooking is decidedly modern, drawing on a fusion of Japanese and western influences. The chef has an interest in ecology, and his “evolve with the forest” cuisine focuses on natural materials like fruits, nuts and the animals that feed off them, rather than agricultural produce.