About
travels for friends, food and wine - in exactly this order
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San Sebastian, Spain
Born
July 21
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- Gerhard Huber added a new restaurant list Luxeat Guide to Timeless Trattorias in Emilia-Romagna
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at Kisanuki at Kisanuki with Tomoko Morikawa
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at Azアゼータ神楽坂 イタリアン at Azアゼータ神楽坂 イタリアン with Tomoko Morikawa
Tokyo’s dining scene is filled with restaurants built around concepts, pedigrees and carefully polished identities. AZ feels different. It is, at its core, a chef cooking the food he wants to cook.
The restaurant is essentially run by a single man. Kazuki Yokohama serves as chef, host and sommelier, assisted only with basic support and dishwashing.... More
Tokyo’s dining scene is filled with restaurants built around concepts, pedigrees and carefully polished identities. AZ feels different. It is, at its core, a chef cooking the food he wants to cook.
The restaurant is essentially run by a single man. Kazuki Yokohama serves as chef, host and sommelier, assisted only with basic support and dishwashing. There is no brigade, no elaborate choreography and little in the way of theatrics. The focus is squarely on ingredients, cooking and hospitality.
Yokohama’s background helps explain the character of the restaurant. Originally from Shizuoka Prefecture and raised in Iwate, he trained at the prestigious Tsuji culinary school in Tokyo before spending roughly eight years working within a restaurant group operating in Ebisu and Nakameguro. Unlike many chefs who focus exclusively on the kitchen, he also earned certification as a J.S.A. Sommelier through the Japan Sommelier Association, one of Japan’s most respected professional wine qualifications. The dual training is evident throughout the experience. AZ is not simply a restaurant run by a chef; it is a restaurant run by someone who thinks equally about food, wine and hospitality.
Our visit was entirely unplanned. After a concert at Suntory Hall, we called on the off chance that they might be able to accommodate two late arrivals. Rather than turning us away, Yokohama welcomed us in and assembled a short tasting menu from what was available that evening, incorporating a couple of personal requests along the way. The result felt less like a restaurant performance and more like being cooked for by an exceptionally talented host.
The menu moved comfortably between Italy and Japan. It began with aged ham and olives, followed by Hokkaido trout, grilled vegetables, sea bream from Kumamoto, octopus and a succession of thoughtfully composed dishes showcasing excellent seasonal produce. Throughout the meal, the quality of the ingredients was immediately apparent, but equally impressive was the restraint with which they were handled. Nothing felt overcomplicated. Every dish seemed designed to highlight rather than disguise its primary ingredient.
The chef was also happy to accommodate a small request and prepared two pasta courses that were not part of the standard sequence. The first, a spaghettini with hamaguri clams and young leeks, was beautifully understated, allowing the natural sweetness and salinity of the clams to take centre stage. The second was a classic Bolognese prepared at our request. It would have been easy for such a dish to feel out of place in a menu built around premium seafood and seasonal produce, but instead it felt entirely natural—comforting, deeply flavoured and executed with the same care as the rest of the meal.
One detail that stood out during the evening was Yokohama’s approach to pasta. In an era where many ambitious Italian restaurants automatically equate quality with house-made fresh pasta, he deliberately goes in the opposite direction. He uses a premium dried pasta from a carefully selected producer, believing it provides superior texture and structure for the sauces he serves. After tasting the pasta courses, it is difficult to argue with the results. The pasta possessed the firmness and resilience that only excellent dried pasta can achieve, providing the perfect vehicle for both the delicate clam sauce and the richer Bolognese.
The highlight of the meal for me was the beef course. Rather than the young, heavily marbled Wagyu typically associated with luxury Japanese beef, Yokohama served mature Tajima cattle from Awaji Island. Tajima cattle are the ancient purebred foundation of Japanese Wagyu, prized for their unique genetics and low-melting-point fat. While commercial Kobe beef generally focuses on carefully raised steers around thirty months of age, these rare mother cows spend many years developing flavour and character. The result is fundamentally different: firmer texture, less overt richness, but layers of nutty, savoury umami that younger cattle simply cannot achieve.
This style of beef is not for everyone. Diners expecting the buttery softness of conventional Kobe may find it too firm. I happen to fall firmly into the other camp. The additional maturity creates complexity, depth and persistence of flavour that reward chewing and contemplation. It is beef with personality rather than merely texture.
Equally noteworthy was the wine service. Yokohama’s J.S.A. sommelier training was evident in the thoughtful recommendations throughout the meal. The pairings felt natural rather than formulaic, enhancing the dishes without drawing attention to themselves. His ability to move seamlessly between the roles of chef, sommelier and host contributed enormously to the relaxed and personal atmosphere of the evening.
What struck me most about AZ was the consistency of the chef’s convictions. The mature Tajima beef and the decision to use premium dried pasta instead of fresh pasta are both expressions of the same philosophy. He is not particularly interested in following convention or meeting preconceived expectations. He simply chooses what he believes produces the best flavour.
AZ is unlikely to be mentioned alongside Tokyo’s grand tasting-menu destinations, nor does it seem interested in competing with them. What it offers instead is something increasingly rare: a talented chef-sommelier cooking excellent ingredients according to his own convictions, while remaining flexible enough to welcome two unexpected guests after a concert and cook them a memorable dinner.
Sometimes that is more than enough. Less
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at Toribayashi (酉囃子) at Toribayashi
Toribayashi (酉囃子) is a new-generation yakitori restaurant in Azabu-Juban, opened in February 2025 after the relocation and renaming of Kagurazaka’s Yakitori Akane. The restaurant presents itself as respecting tradition while adding new value to the genre. The name is carefully chosen: “酉” evokes not only chicken but also sake, vinegar,... More
Toribayashi (酉囃子) is a new-generation yakitori restaurant in Azabu-Juban, opened in February 2025 after the relocation and renaming of Kagurazaka’s Yakitori Akane. The restaurant presents itself as respecting tradition while adding new value to the genre. The name is carefully chosen: “酉” evokes not only chicken but also sake, vinegar, fermentation and soy sauce, while “囃子” suggests people playing together, lifting the atmosphere like festival music. The aim is to communicate the appeal of yakitori to a wider, international audience.
Run by chef Yuta Hayashi and proprietress Akane, Toribayashi is reservation-only, with a small counter-style setting. The cooking combines charcoal and wood fire, with subtle creative touches such as shiso, black pepper, ginger and vegetables to give the skewers more aroma, contrast and rhythm.
My dinner confirmed that Toribayashi is a very promising addition to Tokyo’s yakitori scene. The restaurant has a calm, focused counter atmosphere, and the cooking shows both confidence and restraint. What stood out most was the rhythm of the meal: it never felt like a simple succession of skewers, but rather a well-composed progression, with small dishes, vegetables and grilled items giving the dinner structure and balance.
The chef’s work over the fire was precise. The better skewers had the qualities one hopes for in good yakitori: clear chicken flavour, good seasoning, well-managed fat and enough charcoal aroma without becoming heavy. I also liked that the meal was not overly traditional in a rigid sense. There were small creative touches, but they were used to support the ingredients rather than to make a statement.
The wine service also added to the experience, with bottles that made sense for the food and helped lift the richer parts of the meal. Overall, Toribayashi feels serious, polished and personal. It is still young, but already convincing — a restaurant with a clear point of view and enough depth to make me want to return. Less
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at Sushidokoro Mekumi at Sushidokoro Mekumi
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at Maeda (前田) at Maeda (前田)
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Onomichi ramen is one of Japan’s great regional ramen styles: clear shoyu broth layered with niboshi (small dried fish) and chicken stock, finished with floating chunks of pork back fat (“seabura”). It sounds heavy, but the this bowl is actually elegant, savory and deeply comforting.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at 鳥ゆう at 鳥ゆう
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- Gerhard Huber added a new restaurant list “Destination Restaurants 2026” selected by the Japan Times
https://authentic-japan-selection.japantimes.com/
Destination Restaurants 2026, the list’s sixth annual installment, features 10 new entrants, bringing the total to 60. The judging panel of Yoshiki Tsuji, Naoyuki Honda and Takefumi Hamada remains unchanged. Eligible restaurants can be of any genre but must lie outside of Japan’s major cities.
Selections... More
https://authentic-japan-selection.japantimes.com/
Destination Restaurants 2026, the list’s sixth annual installment, features 10 new entrants, bringing the total to 60. The judging panel of Yoshiki Tsuji, Naoyuki Honda and Takefumi Hamada remains unchanged. Eligible restaurants can be of any genre but must lie outside of Japan’s major cities.
Selections are based on three principles: that the true expression of Japan’s land and climate is to be found in its regional areas; that it is important to unearth unique local talents; and that Destination Restaurants must be different from other rankings.
As the list grows, a new map of Japan’s culinary scene is emerging more clearly. And yet many great restaurants still haven’t been selected yet, and some prefectures still don’t have an entry in the list. We hope that by 2030, when the list will have grown to 100 restaurants, there will be at least one from each of Japan’s 47 prefectures. Less
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at 千代鮨 at 千代鮨
千代鮨
Located in the heart of Niigata, Chiyozushi is a classic local sushiya focused on showcasing the region’s exceptional seafood and rice culture. The atmosphere is understated and relaxed, with a warm hinoki counter and an old-school neighborhood feel rather than polished luxury. The chefs work quietly and efficiently, serving a broad selection... More
千代鮨
Located in the heart of Niigata, Chiyozushi is a classic local sushiya focused on showcasing the region’s exceptional seafood and rice culture. The atmosphere is understated and relaxed, with a warm hinoki counter and an old-school neighborhood feel rather than polished luxury. The chefs work quietly and efficiently, serving a broad selection of local fish with clean seasoning and approachable Edomae technique. It feels honest, deeply regional, and very Niigata in spirit, emphasizing freshness, balance, and generosity over theatricality. 
The meal followed a traditional nigiri progression before moving into several recommended pieces from the chef. Standouts included excellent Iwashi with rich oil and balanced acidity, sweet and lush Namba ebi, and a beautifully textured Chutoro with deep umami and clean fat integration. Additional highlights included kohada, uni, ikura, and a comforting amaebi miso soup. The shari leaned slightly soft but paired well with the local seafood. Overall, a satisfying and enjoyable regional sushi experience with several memorable bites.  Less
