Japanese Cuisine Shin-ei

Japanese Cuisine Shin-ei can be found in Kanazawa’s Higashi Chaya District, one of the city’s most renowned sightseeing spots. Down an elegant backstreet that retains the charm of the area’s bustling days as a chic social hub, a pure white noren curtain sways gently in the evening breeze. The name “Shin-ei” is derived from an Edo-period (1603–1867) text on Japanese metaphysics, the very book that inspired the owner to pursue the path of cuisine.

After honing his skills at prestigious establishments in Osaka and Kyoto and becoming a Michelin-starred chef, in 2022, the owner opened this restaurant. It serves exquisitely refined, classical Japanese fare, rooted in traditional Japanese tea ceremony cuisine—a lineage that the chef seeks to continue.

He strives for bold yet refined cuisine, defined by the beauty of restraint, with meticulously constructed dishes that are suited to special occasions, yet also embody the essence of the finest everyday meal. To honor the Japanese spirit embodied in the tea ceremony’s principles of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility, he avoids theatrical performances that treat ingredients as living props. Nor does he embellish dishes with decorative mats or flowers. Instead, he presents them in their natural state, following the true path of traditional kaiseki cuisine.

The restaurant is located in a Japanese-style residence that is over 100 years old and designated by Kanazawa as a traditional preserved building. The interior, designed by the owner himself, avoids excessive ornamentation to offer a serene, welcoming atmosphere. Antique art pieces, such as museum-quality hanging scrolls from the Kamakura period around 800 years ago and a counter crafted from approximately 2,000-year-old Jindai wood, lend the space a sense of solidity. (Jindai refers to ancient pieces of wood buried underground for hundreds to even thousands of years by earthquakes or floods and later excavated in a preserved state.) The serving dishes, meanwhile, are exceptionally rare antiques of museum-quality. Japanese Cuisine Shin-ei is a place where the ostentatious or flamboyant is eschewed in favor of the quiet brilliance of authenticity.

The restaurant has a set of six counter seats and a table for four, but each is reserved for only one party per day. This approach reflects the owner’s wish to embody the spirit of one-on-one hospitality. It was a philosophy practiced by the tea master Sen no Rikyu, who would only welcome a single guest into his two-mat tea room, Tai-an. Likewise, this restaurant’s owner seeks to create a place where hospitality is offered with sincerity, humility, and care.

Visit Japanese Cuisine Shin-ei to share a heartwarming dining experience with someone special. Feel free to come just as you are, and without the need to put on airs.

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