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.

Enjoy authentic, hotel-grade Chinese food at this street side venue.

Born on March 25, 1960, in Kyoto Prefecture. Influenced by parents, who were both true gastronomes, he developed a keen interest in cooking, especially Chinese food, from a very early age. In 1980, he began what would become a 7 year training at restaurant Dunhuang in Yamaguchi Prefecture. He was also deeply impressed by the passionate approach of Chef Kazuo Uchida, his senior at the Hotel New Otani in Osaka (currently serving as chef at the ANA Hotel in Kyoto), which further deepened his commitment to the culinary arts. His downtown restaurant's creed is to make luxury hotel-grade Chinese cuisine easily accessible to all.

A chef who switched over to the culinary world with wholehearted resolve.

Shintaro was born in August 1988 in Nakaotagiri, Nagano Prefecture. He used to work in a different industry, but he switched to the culinary world with wholehearted resolve. Since he began cooking at Tenku no Tsuki, he has pursued daily training under the tutelage of his teacher, Chef Watanabe.

A veteran chef who is particular about how to heat all the iingredients meat, fish and vegetables

Born in 1967, in Tokyo. He chose to become a professional cook because he likes to see faces delighted by delicious food. Since 1987, he has been engaged in cooking French cuisine in the main dining room of various hotels within Tokyo. In 2005, he went independent and opened Chez Hiro in Nezu. In 2008, he turned to Spanish cuisine and joined Spain Club Co. After serving as head chef of Kioi-cho Spain Bar and Shimokitazawa Spain Bar, he took over as head chef of Tsukishima Spain Club in 2010.

His training started from as early as elementary school and he was considered a cooking genius.

He started working at a Japanese restaurant and Japanese sweet shops when he was an elementary school student. He graduated from the culinary school, Tsuji, and also went to France to study at a French cooking college. He went to Alsace and visited other areas as well. He became a chef after four years and returned to Japan after eight years in total. In 2012, he opened La FinS.

By making sure ingredients change every day, there is always an eye on consistent quality.

Born in 1973, and a native of Fukuoka Prefecture, he had always loved food, but was working at a company unrelated to the culinary world. From there, he decided to change occupations and pursue the path of becoming a chef. Every day he constantly watches changes in conditions and the quality of ingredients to insure a consistent high level of quality, which means he is always studying the textures and flavors of the food he has perfected.

Always obsessive about fish.

Seafood direct from the Port of Heda, Numazu. Every morning we head to Numazu port to buy our stock. Normally the fishermen bring in their afternoon catch to the Port of Heda to put out at market the next day. But we go directly to buy our fish so by that evening we can serve it in our restaurant. Our customers get to experience a freshness they would normally not be able to do.

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.

A chef who not only ensures a great taste, but also creates a gorgeously looking plate

Born September 21, 1973 in Ichinomiya, Aichi. After graduating from university, he worked at a hotel. Using his experience while he was a student working part-time in the food industry, he switched careers to work in the world of cuisine. He is involved in a variety of genres of Japanese cuisine, such as Japanese gastronomy, creative cookery, and izakaya bar foods. In 2011, he worked at Hanaya Horizo. He's oarticularly proud of his detail oriented prep work and gorgeous presentation.

Eels, the pride of the proprietor who has continued to handle them since Sansho opened in Asakusa some 30 years ago

After training at an unagi (eel) wholesaler, he opened the unagi specialty restaurant Sansho in 1985. He refuses to compromise on taste and freshness, only procuring enough fresh unagi for the day. In addition to his infallible skills and judgement, he has been winning over customers with his warm and sociable hospitality.

After his father's retirement, he succeeded the family business spanning 3 generations and 50 years

He was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1968. He first thought of running a Korean barbecue shop when he was 40. When his father, the previous head, retired, he felt that someone had to continue the store that his grandfather had started, so he quit his construction job and entered the world of Korean barbecue.

Our chef's former occupation as an automotive engineer allowed him to transition brilliantly into a culinary architect who lets nothing go to waste.

He had originally worked as an engineer for the automobile industry, but after the Oil Crisis he switched careers to become a chef - a longtime passion. He ran his own food cart while attending culinary school, serving dark beer, which was quite rare at the time. He opened this establishment, "COTTON FIELDS", in 1980. He takes special care in selecting ingredients, and his motto is not to let a single part go to waste, with a special talent for bringing out the unique flavor of each component. He's most famous for his excellent spare ribs, garnished with a secret sauce he invented back in his food cart days.

Living with Japanese cuisine for 25 years. Good food backed up by experience and sense.

Born in Hyogo prefecture in 1966. When he was a student, he was looking for work and became a chef. That's when he came into contact with the deliciousness and delicacy of Japanese Cuisine. He stayed with it for 25 straight years. He has very strict judgement concerning fish and takes taste very seriously. He is aiming for food that will make the customer happy with its taste and appearance, so he continues to hone his skills day and night.

I had a fascination with the hospitality industry and I always hoped to have my own place!

My first job working in the hospitality industry was at an izakaya. While I was working there, I became very interested in the industry and I began to think about starting up my own place. From that time on, all of my attention went into learning how to cook. The izakaya that I worked at focused mainly on seafood based cuisine, which meant that I gained a lot of knowledge and tricks about cooking with fish. People say that my knowledge of fish is on a different level to others.

Who knew that the Sichuan cuisine that his seniors first recommended to him to would turn out to guide him down his life?

Born in Tochigi prefecture in 1979, he entered the culinary world when he was 18. He started training in a Cantonese restaurant in Yokohama's Chinatown, and entered "Choyo" when he was 20. After that, he studied under the guidance of Mr. Zhao Yang, and played an active role as the head chef of its Ginza branch. He set out on his own when he was 31 and opened "Shushanshan."

Making a career out of my favorite dish

I loved eating gyutan (beef tongue), and I was a fan of Rikyu's gyutan. I often went to the restaurant, and the staff always made sure that I enjoyed myself, so that's what led me to enter the world of cooking.

Deeply impressed by the Italians' service and delicious food

Born in 1974 in Tottori, the chef decided to pursue this path while visiting Italy and being drawn to its delicious cuisine and friendly people. After graduating from a culinary school, he entered an Italian restaurant. In 1998, he joined "Vino Hirata" and became head chef in 2009. In May, 2010, he became an owner chef.

He pours 100% of his effort into every skewer to offer you his best every time.

Born in 1976, a native of Hokkaido's Muroran City. After working at a pub as a part-time job, he decided to enter the world of the culinary arts. He worked at a pub in Sapporo for almost ten years, were he learned how to manage food preparation and instruct staff - the whole operation of a successful restaurant. In 2004, he returned to his hometown of Muroran and began working at "Yakitori no Ippei Main Store." He tells us that "there's no way you could get this kind of quality at a cheap yakitori joint - my motto is to cook every single skewer to delicious perfection before I offer it to my customers."

He's been coming home to the shop where his parents cooked at since he was young.

Chef Ide was born in 1976 in Shizuoka Prefecture. Having always been good at making things and working with his hands from the time he was young, upon graduating high school, he returned home to inherit his family's soba shop. The more he learned about cooking, the more it appealed to him. He studied hard and steadily began taking on new challenges. In lieu of training elsewhere, he adopted the attitude of always challenging himself to continually learn. Continuing to preserve the flavors created by his parents while adding his own style, he works on creating new flavors he can be proud from here on into the future.

Just how it is in Spain. Savor true Spanish cooking.

Born in Barcelona, Spain. Her family runs a restauraunt for over 100 years since her grandfather's generation. Since much of Spanish cooking in Japan is adapted to the Japanese palate, she opened a restaurant to offer the true flavors of Spain. She offers the authentic taste she's been familiar with from an early age. Every year, when she returns to her country, she learns a dish that is trending in Spain. New flavors appear in the menu right away.