ISSEI YUASA

It began with one guest and one chef.

Back when Issei Yuasa was still cooking in another restaurant's kitchen, our founder, Takeuchi, was one of its regular guests. Savoring the dishes, exchanging words: as such moments accumulated, their relationship gradually grew beyond that of guest and chef.

In time, Yuasa left that restaurant. And he reached out to Takeuchi.

That message was the beginning of everything. We would build a restaurant with Yuasa, the chef, at its center. The first stage was a small, previously fitted-out space in Ebisu. Its name was "Issei Yuasa Laboratory." True to that name, there Yuasa confronted his own cuisine, experimenting and refining it without pause.

Then came the connection to our current home in Nishi-Azabu.

We wanted to take Yuasa's Italian regional cooking one step further, here in Azabu. To give that wish form, we chose a space as quiet and dignified as an art gallery. A white marble counter, vessels by Rosanjin and others, and layered over them, the elegant flavors that Japanese palates love. In the spring of 2021, ISSEI YUASA opened its doors.

In the kitchens of Italy's small towns live flavors handed down over long years.

Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. Yuasa fell in love with the regional cooking of these lands and spent two years in local kitchens. The dishes the locals had eaten day after day, he made with his own hands, tested on his own palate, and engraved into his body.

What matters most on every ISSEI YUASA plate is the bold first bite, full of the strength of regional cooking, that blooms the moment it touches your tongue. Then, in the finish, it leaves a clear beauty inspired by the dashi broths of Japanese cuisine. From an attack cloaked in the memory of the land to an aftertaste that grows quietly refined: each plate traces that transition.

That is why, though it is regional cooking, it pairs so well with elegant wines. Centered on Burgundy, the sommelier chooses bottles that resonate with the food.

His days in Italy left Yuasa with countless drawers of ideas. Because he wants you to taste each one of them, his courses often take the form of many small plates. It is also the kind of course Yuasa himself would want to eat.

Even for guests who come two or three days in a row, he never shows the same scenery twice. As far as possible he changes the menu, cooking dishes to suit the mood of the day. Delighting the person in front of him is one of Yuasa's greatest joys. So there is no need to hold back. Please, tell him exactly what you would like.

After 21:00, the restaurant shifts into a time for à la carte and wine. In the afterglow of a course, or at the end of a long day: one more plate, one more glass.