Cultural Origins Elevated for Today
Hospitality in the Hands of a Tea Master

Conceived by a tea master versed in tea ceremony, flower arranging, and calligraphy, this cha-kaiseki restaurant translates the traditional arts into a culinary experience. Rooted in the spirit of chanoyu, the setting awakens the five senses, inviting guests to savour the change of seasons. This is the Azabudai Hills branch of Tominokoji Yamagishi — a Kyoto restaurant that extends the legacy of kyo-ryori, treasuring its traditions while continuing to evolve with contemporary  sensibilities.
Stepping inside, guests are welcomed by an interior of quiet dignity — black shikkui plaster walls and a trowel-finished floor, both hand-applied by Kyoto artisans, and a restrained cypress nameplate declaring the house. The approach, imagined as a roji — the traditional path to a tea room — weaves together a chestnut header beam given an uzukuri finish to bring out its grain with walls of charred black cedar, shaping a passage where stillness deepens with each step. At its end, a tokonoma-like alcove — complete with hanging scroll and flower vase — ushers guests into the rare intimacy of a six-seat counter.
Juraku plaster walls, again the work of Kyoto artisans, lend the space a deep calm. The tea house finds expression in a cedar-grain door recalling the sadōguchi (the host’s entrance) and a lowered opening inspired by the nijiriguchi (the guest’s crawl-through entry). Above, the rippled grain of the figured tamo ash ceiling shifts with the light. Behind the counter, an understated tokonoma alcove of copper and bamboo holds a single-flower vase, adding natural colour to the textures of earth and wood, while to its left a hearth finished in mortar completes the composition. Within this setting, the solid zelkova counter and Finn Juhl’s leather chairs bring Japanese and Western sensibilities into balance, creating an atmosphere of ease and grace, attuned to the present.
To carry forward a culture honed over a millennium demands courage — the courage to test, to refine, to evolve. The balance of place and cuisine gives rise to an experience without parallel. Far from a simple replication, Tominokoji Yamagishi unites preservation and innovation, producing cha-kaiseki for today.