Kaichoro Cuisine
The Kaichoro Ryokan boasts some of Japan's - if not the world's - best eating. It would be easy to forgive anyone wishing to stay at this ryokan simply to have the opportunity to eat the exquisite fusion of French and kaiseki traditions prepared by the capable hands of Chef Shigeru Arai.
Menus change monthly to reflect the seasons. Autumnal ingredients, for instance, included brown truffles, beluga caviar, and matsutake mushrooms, along with inspired combinations of both western and Japanese luxury ingredients: grilled aubergine with mackerel sashimi and chrysanthemum petals, warm lobster in mascarpone sauce with rocket, sukiyaki made with local wagyu beef and French burgundy.
Meals are served dish by dish, in the style of tasting menus and traditional Japanese kaiseki. Each course is expertly paired with sommelier-chosen wines and sakes.
Chef Arai's expert preparation of exceptional organic ingredients is comparable to such legendary European establishments as El Bulli in Barcelona, La Maison Veyrat in Veyrier du lac, France, and Le Cerf, Cossonay, Switzerland.
Chef Arai
Shigeru Arai, born 8th June, 1972
After training in hotels and ryokan, Arai worked for Roppongi Hills Club Hyakumian (Japanese restaurant). He studied under Masahiko Miura, the head chef, and learned from him a complete commitment to fine cuisine, developing a style that explores the five tastes (sweet, salty, sour, bitter and hot), five methods (roast, boil, fry, steam and raw), five colors (white, black, yellow, red and blue/green), and five senses (coloring, sound, odor, temperature and taste) as well as the choice of tableware and the display of foods. He is also well versed in the arts and culture such as flower arranging, tea ceremony, ceramic art, Buddhism and so on, which are significant elements of Japanese cuisine. With passion for his work, Arai is a young head chef who soothes guests' hearts with his graceful talk. He describes himself as a "lifelong chef."