Foraging taste becomes the art of cooking

This article is published in Tokyo Weekend Volume. 2, 2025.
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A simple corner of the elegant neighborhood of Aoyama, known as Narisawa (hidden in a simple corner), is an experimental fine dining restaurant known for its innovation and brains in sustainable cuisine. Narisawa’s Omakase-style menu blends a variety of cooking techniques with Japanese concepts of Satoyama. Traditionally, Satoyama refers to a rural landscape where humans live in harmony with nature. In recent years, it symbolizes sustainability, a profound respect for the integration of the earth and humans and the natural world.

Founded in 2003 by chef Yoshihiro Narisawa, this two-Miclin star restaurant has gained international recognition for its quality, innovation and commitment to environmentally conscious gourmet dining, and has won a Michelin Green Star, earning a list of the world’s best restaurants and many other accolades for 14 consecutive years.

Nari Sava Chef

Pioneer of food

Narisawa grew up in the catering industry. This is the path he always wanted to follow. “My family runs a restaurant and I’m often surrounded by delicious food that makes people smile on their faces,” he said. “I know I want to inspire the same joy as the chef.”

The chef’s journey to become his master of craftsmanship is not a straightforward one. Although Tokyo is now regarded as one of the world’s most glittering culinary capitals, with 183 Michelin-starred restaurants, the city’s premium dining scene doesn’t always have its current rich cultural influence. Narisawa, just 19 years old, is one of a group of smart Japanese chefs who ventured abroad to train foreign connoisseurs during the bubble economy. What they brought back forms the explosive basis of the flavors we interact with Tokyo today.

“Before heading to Europe, I began training in traditional Japanese cuisine, where I felt I could have a deeper understanding of the finest quality dining field,” explains Narisawa. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, he studied under some respected chefs in some of the world, including cooking legends Paul Bocuse and Joël Robuchon.

Harmony with the land and the sea

Narisawa returned to Japan in 1996 after his transitional tenure in France, Italy and Switzerland, opening his first French-style restaurant, La Napoule in Kanagawa. It was not until he founded his restaurant of the same name in Tokyo (originally named Les Créations de Narisawa) that the chef met the Satoyama culture and began to develop his iconic culinary philosophy.

When hand-selecting the restaurant menu on a mountaintop farm in Nagano Prefecture, Narisawa was shocked by the incredible quality of vegetables grown at a height of 1,000 meters, which some might consider as a disadvantage. “The temperature of the location changes dramatically between day and night, but this uncompromising climate cultivates the rich, unique flavor of its produce,” explains Narisawa. This experience was formative for him, revealing the profound and complex relationship between the forces of nature and his work as a chef. “I have a new appreciation for the enormous impact of the natural environment on our composition.”

As Narisawa points out, 70% of the Japanese archipelago is covered with forests, which means limited space for cultivation. Therefore, the Japanese people have always respected natural resources and seasonal transformations very much, and only what they need. Narisawa defines this way of thinking as the heart of Satoyama culture. “Through our innovative Satoyama cuisine, we pay tribute to the wisdom of our ancestors,” he said.

The Art of Satoyama

Driven by his deep respect for the natural world and commitment to local ingredients, Narisawa has been exploring new ways to showcase foraging elements to amplify its inherent flavor. His culinary works – creative, complex and sometimes surprisingly complexity – are designed to convey the spirit of nature through thoughtful taste and expression.

For example, the iconic Satoyama landscape and nature of forest dishes use a variety of wild plants gathered in Ishikawa Prefecture, along with other traditional Japanese ingredients to create a gastronomic landscape: “moss”, “earth” and “branches”, made of dry tofu residue, bamboo charcoal and candy burdock bord. Narisawa extracts the aroma and flavor of thinly shaved cedar and oak wood, a process similar to the process of making Dashi soup to create the name essence of the forest and serve in the cup on the side.

What really is surprising about Narisawa’s vision for sustainability is that it goes beyond his culinary philosophy. The chefs have been maintaining a sustainable work-life balance in his restaurants, which is inconsistent with the infamous long hours and the stressful lifestyle of restaurant staff around the world. “We want to make sure our employees are able to work in health and balance their family life,” he said. “We end at 8 p.m. and have an effective cleaning process to encourage employees to get proper rest.”

This humanistic approach to management ultimately echoes the chef’s core goal for the restaurant, which inspired his culinary journey years ago. “We want the guests who come to our restaurant to enjoy their meals and make themselves happy. In short, I want to make people happy with delicious food,” he said.

More information

You can learn more about Chef Narisawa’s food tours and recipes in his book Satoyamaphotographed by Sergio Coimbra and published by Taschen.

Narisawa booking is available online.

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