Chef Patron Jun Yukimura comes from the Tokyo area, but it was in Kyoto he got his training and skills. He worked several years as the Head Chef of Muromachi Wakuden in Kyoto before he brought parts of the key team with him to Tokyo for the opening of his own Azabu Yukimura.
Chef Yukimura’s inspiration for becoming a chef comes from a television show called Zenryaku Ofukuro-sama which translates to “Dear Mom”. The main character was a Japanese cook and he inspired Yukimura to take on a job at an old uwoasa in Kyoto which is a restaurant offering catering and banquet services as well. One of the most influential teachers for the young Yukimura was Kazakura Maruyama who was the Chef of Gion Maruyama in Kyoto. Jun Yukimura was already a well-known name when he opened up his little restaurant in Tokyo in 2000.
It is a bit of a challenge to find Chef Yukimura’s tiny Tokyo shop with just ten seats at a counter and a table for four. There is no sign helping you to find it so you have to rely on someone local to help you or use the block numbers in the address. Walk through the curtain on the third floor and voilà you are there. The cuisine is kaiseki with Yukimura’s signature all over it and the style of dining is kappo kaiseki where you dine at a counter rather than in a private room. The curved counter setting is inviting and you sit close to the other diners which makes it ideal for interaction between the Chef and the diners. Of course only in Japanese, but usually it is always someone around the counter who can assist you with translations unless you do not speak Japanese. The environment is friendly and relaxed and the Chef talks plenty with his guests so you can expect an evening of pure pleasure combined with some of the best Japanese cuisine available anywhere in the world.
The counter is the same level as the preparation area for the cooks and no partition to hide anything as it is at many Japanese restaurants so you will have the best views of all the amazing work made by the chefs. Especially the work of Yukimura and more particularly his work with knifes which is something you rarely will see anywhere else. It is a work of art, and very enjoyable to look at someone that talented and skilled as Yukimura.
All ingredients come from Kyoto and it is only the very best produce like matsutake mushrooms and matsozaka beef which will end up in front of you. It depends on season what you will have, but we can recommend a visit in the late winter months to have the amazing grilled snow crab from Taiza port in Kyoto.
Make sure to get a reservation at Azabu Yukimura the minute the seats are launched or you will not have a chance of having one of the best kaiseki meals of your life.
Written by Andy
