In the remote region of Yamagata, this renowned Japanese restaurant far exceeds a Tabelog rating of 4. It is also one of the 13 establishments awarded the Chefs Gold in this year's Tabelog Awards, meaning it was chosen by chefs recognized for their culinary excellence. Additionally, it serves as a long-established inn that has welcomed practitioners who go into the mountains for training. Because of this, I decided to stay overnight with dinner and breakfast included. The three-story building is spacious, with numerous rooms, including banquet halls that are not in use, making it easy to get lost. The staff consists of around 20 employees. For dinner, we enjoyed a special course at a chef's table reserved just for us. In a comfortable room, it was only my spouse and I. The large, clean counter was in a beautifully remodeled room. As we gazed at the garden illuminated by the lights, the head chef and the proprietress attended to us personally. It was quite moving, especially since there were other guests staying for dinner that night. However, I heard that soon they will be accommodating several groups at the chef's table simultaneously. The dishes served were refined and elegant Japanese cuisine. Each dish presented was so delicious that it made me sit up straight. The joy of enjoying local mountain vegetables was delightful, but the tempura had an incredibly light batter, rivaling that of the most sought-after tempura restaurants. The bear shabu-shabu was seasoned solely with the bear meat itself, without any kombu or bonito, yet it had no gamey or oily taste. The broth was light and full of umami, deeply nourishing and comforting. While the bear hot pot at Hira Sanso is exceptional, this one was at the pinnacle of quality among bear hot pots served at famous Japanese restaurants! We also had eel, served as both white grilled eel and eel rice bowl. The rice in the eel bowl was mixed with sauce and garnished with shiso, making it very elegant. When paired with the grilled eel, it was pure bliss! The head chef is also knowledgeable about Japanese wine, offering a perfect selection of sparkling, white, and red wines by the glass. After dinner, I returned to my room in a dreamy state. The inn's most splendid room is a renovated storehouse located at the far end of the property, featuring a 15-tatami mat room plus a 6-tatami mat room, complete with a bathroom. Describing it this way makes it sound incredibly luxurious. However, it is originally an old inn where practitioners used to stay. You can see signs of aging everywhere, with the sink in the washroom often clogged. The air conditioning was difficult to adjust, and without blackout curtains, the shoji screens let in too much light in the morning. Naturally, instead of a bed, there were futons. Lying on the futon in the vast room, staring at the ceiling, I was reminded of the large dormitory rooms from school trips. The chef's table room was stylish and divine, and the meal was the best of the best. Now, looking at the large dormitory room, I couldn't help but feel the stark contrast. ...It made me a little sad and brought tears to my eyes. Of course, breakfast was quite ordinary, as it is an inn for practitioners. The cost for this day was JPY 26,000 for the chef's table dinner plus drinks, totaling JPY 30,200. Additionally, the accommodation with breakfast was JPY 22,000. This long-established inn, which has been in business for 95 years, also has a soba restaurant on-site and is managed by the fourth generation, carrying the weight of many employees. On the other hand, it attracts food enthusiasts from across the country and hosts one group of guests at the chef's table, showcasing the talent of its chefs. I can only imagine how demanding their daily work must be. As for my own evaluation, since I experienced both dining and lodging, I cannot simply switch my mindset to just the meal. This time, I will not assign a score. My assessment always considers both dining and lodging together. However, I cannot give a low rating to such high-quality dishes. If I had to say, for dinner alone, I would rate it 4.8. The lodging, however, is completely out of the question for scoring. I wonder if it would be better to separate the management of dining and lodging. I believe that would allow for a greater focus on culinary excellence. At the very least, perhaps they could renovate a special room with beds exclusively for chef's table guests, significantly increasing the accommodation fee. I believe guests coming from all over the country would appreciate that. Running an inn and restaurant while carrying the weight of local history is quite challenging, and this two-day, one-night experience made me realize that.