A veteran shop loved by the locals for many years. The unchanged taste of the yakitori goes to show they are particular about good flavor.

There was a time when I walked around and ate at all the yakitori shops in the city, tells Mr. Shigeyama. His love for yakitori lead him to open his "Yakitori House Nonchan" in 1984. You can take the finest quality ingredients for granted, and every skewer is carefully prepared by hand in-house. There is no end to the regulars who make their way in for a taste of Mr. Shigeyama's carefully crafted yakitori.

A chef who is constantly thinking up new menus in which the flavors of the drinks and the food complement each other

Born in 1965 in Oita Prefecture, graduated from Tsuji Japanese Culinary Arts College. After gaining experience in Kyoto and Osaka he went independent, starting his own restaurant in Kyoto. In 2006 fate brought him to "Ristorante Misato", where he shows off his skills daily as the lead chef.

Stepped into the world of culinary from an admiration of white chef coats

Born in 1960 in Aichi prefecture. The glamour of French cuisine left a great impression on him and he set his mind on becoming a French chef himself. He polished his skills at numerous noted restaurants, including The Westin Nagoya Castle, Au Bec Fin Ponto-cho branch, Maxim's de Paris Nagoya branch, and Imperial Wing. In 2004, he took the position of executive chef at Aile d'Ange main branch, a role he maintains to the present day.

Working hard with the staff to create a comfortable restaurant

Born August 10, 1956 in Sapporo. After graduating from a vocational school, he worked at restaurants, hotels, and izakaya bars, serving customers. When Hokkai Shabu Shabu Kita 2 Jo opened in 2012, he was hired on as manager. Rather than "training staff by the book," he focuses on "little acts of service and hospitality," working towards creating a restaurant with a warm atmosphere along with his staff.

Into the world of cuisine dreamt of since childhood.

In order to progress on to the world of food dreamt of in his childhood, he studied at a cooking school. After graduating he began working at Rikyu as a cook, steadily building up experience until now.

Born February 23rd, 1960, a native of Hyogo Prefecture. After graduating from high school he worked at a number of restaurants, before traveling to France. He studied under Bernard Loiseau, the head chef at La Cote d'Or (now called Le Relais Bernard Loiseau), who gave rise to the Asian-inspired French fusion style, which our chef learned. He returned home to work at the Japanese chef of La Cote d'Or Kobe in 1992. As of 2000 he was promoted to the general manager and head chef of the Kitano Kobe Hotel.

Say "Sendai" and think "beef tongue" - say "beef tongue" and think "Rikyu"!

For Chef Koyama, borne and raised in Sendai, beef tongue is one of his most beloved foods. He was a huge fan of Rikyu, saying "It was my favorite restaurant. Not only the grilled beef tongue, but also the side dishes were great and plentiful." After four years amassing experience in a Japanese pub kitchen, he made his way to his much-loved Rikyu. Everyday he's striving so as many people as possible can savor the flavor that can only be found here.

In contrast with his beloved father, a sushi chef, he's challenging himself in the world of French cuisine!

Born in 1971 to a sushi chef father. After honing his skills at famous hotel restaurants in Fukuoka and Kobe, he set off for France. After learning about authentic French cuisine, he came back to Japan and set up his own restaurant. His restaurant, which used to be solely a French restaurant, has now expanded its offerings, developing into a "Western food and wine restaurant."

He continues to strive down the path of cuisine to fulfill his dream of owning his own restaurant

Born in 1959. A native of Saga Prefecture's Karatsu City. His memories of a local Japanese food restaurant led him to enter the world of cuisine, deciding to make food that could move people. After acquiring experience at Hakata hotels and Japanese restaurants, he became head chef of Japanese cuisine at the Yachiyo Royal Hotel in Kumamoto. After that, he worked as head chef of the Yamaguchi Grand Hotel's Japanese Restaurant Miyabi for 12 years. He opened WA FUKUSHIMA in September of 2009, and this is his fifth year with us. He's never satisfied with his own cooking, striving for excellence each day.

Encountering genuine motsunabe (meat stew) in Osaka led to him opening his own restaurant

I'm originally from Ichinomiya City. After stepping away from the 9-to-5 life of a businessman, I entered cooking school. After that, I apprenticed at a Chinese restaurant and worked at a gyoza (dumpling) shop in Osaka for even more training. When a famous motsunabe (meat stew) restaurant from Fukuoka opened a branch in Osaka, I seized the opportunity to work there and trained for a year and a half, and in 2007 split off and opened a restaurant in Nagoya.

A Chef Who Handles Various Delicacies Such as Live Crab, Blowfish, and Chinese Softshell Turtle

Chef Kawasaki was born on January 24th, 1982 and is from Hokkaido. He studyied about store designs in high school, and wanting to eventually own his own store, he decided to become a chef. After graduating, he moved to Tokyo, where he first trained for five years at "Tsunahachi". With a desire to gain further experience, he trained for another five years at "Kyofuji". He then gained further experience at "Japanese Restaurant Ono Ginza" and a number of other stores with a desire to learn about wines. At its opening in November 2012, he entered "Akasaka Kitafuku", where he continues to work today.

The chef expresses the sense of the season through his cuisine.

After training at small Japanese restaurants which are ideal to learn the fundamentals of Japanese cuisine, he accumulated further experiences at restaurants in Osaka and Kyoto to learn about the gourmet food of the Kansai area. After improving his cooking skills at Chiso Sottaku in Ginza, Tokyo, he became the master chef at Ginza Wakuta in July 2003, where he later became the owner until now. Currently he is creating dishes respecting the original tastes of the ingredients and the sense of the season.

This chef has devoted himself to the art of preparing fugu (pufferfish) for 28 years, and continues his exploration of the most delicious fugu dishes

Born on April 8, 1967, in Gifu Prefecture. After graduating from high school, he studied in a culinary school, before joining a fugu (blowfish) restaurant in Osaka, where he would work for 20 years. In 2007, he opened his Momofuku restaurant in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. He is committed to making his restaurant a place his customers invite their loved ones to, and long to visit again.

Since the more you get to know sake the more interesting it is, these days he is completely engrossed in sake .

Born in 1983 in Tokyo, at 15 he started a part-time job that offered him a way to gain experience in restaurant service. This ended up piquing his interest enough to enter the culinary world as a career. While gathering experience in bars and Japanese-style restaurants, he was able to closely study sake. With an abundance of knowledge in wine and other drinks, he serves as manager at Nurukan Sato, where he gets to pursue his love of sake full-time.

An encounter with subtle yet profoundly complex Japanese cuisine

His fascination with the delicate yet complex flavors of the Japanese cuisine he encountered during his part-time job at a Japanese restaurant led him down the path to becoming a chef. He studied pure, authentic Japanese cuisine before coming to work with us. Our establishment serves not only okonomiyaki and monjayaki (savory pancakes with fillings), but also full course meals that bring genuine Japanese cuisine to life. He cooks each day with the belief that he should pour his all into every meal he makes.

Upandcoming Chef Daisuke Kaneko

Born 1979. Traveled to France following experiences at Osaka La Becasse and Tokyo Cote Dor. Opened L'AS in Minami Aoyama in 2012. Relocated L'AS to a new location within Minami Aoyama in 2013, and at the same time, opened CORK. His skills are acclaimed throughout the world, and he was selected in 2014 as best young chef by the UK high class gourmet magazine "Four".

This firstclass chef continues to push ahead.

Tan was born in 1943 in the Kanagawa Prefecture (Kanagawa Chinatown). He worked at Chugoku Hanten in Shinbashi, Li Yu n in Shiba, was a sous-chef at Minamizono at the Keio Plaza Hotel, and chef of Guangzhou at the Hotel Edmont. In 1996 he opened Akasaka Rikyu, and later in 2004 he opened its Ginza branch.

He has refined his skills basically in Italian cuisine. Now he is playing an important role at Minoru Shokudo.

He was born in 1979 in Kanagawa Prefecture. He began to dream of becoming a chef in his school days, learned cooking at high school, and got his cooking license. After graduating, he gained experience primarily in restaurants specializing in pasta and entered Kabenoana Co., Ltd. Following that, he gained experience at Le Vin Vivant (wine bar in Tamachi) and finally joined Minoru Shokudo. Now he is the chief chef there.

Switched from Being a Chef Specializing in Japanese Cuisine to a Sake Professional

He was born in Oita, Japan in 1975. While he was originally trained as a chef specializing in Japanese cuisine, his eyes were opened to Japanese sake as well when he tried sake named Tatsuriki at a neighborhood sake shop. He took a license of sake sommelier, and his frequent interactions with sake brewers resulted in an obsession with sake. At first, he was a constant customer of [Washubar Kuri], and later he was employed at its sister shop in Shinbashi. He has been manager of [Washubar Kuri] since October 2012 where he is both a sake sommelier and chef.

Wishing to give everyone a taste of fish from a marketplace store

Helping out in the restaurant her parents managed ever since she was young, she developed an interest in preparing food and providing service. Afterwards, she gained experience from various businesses, and opened Sakanaya, a company store with her older brother who works at the market.