Chef Yamada Yuji

Executive Chef at Horin / 方林 Restaurant in Kaga Shi, Japan, Yamada Yuji works from the conditions of place rather than against them. In a town known for its onsen pace, the kitchen runs on the same scale: measured, attentive, and tied to what the season is actually doing. The result is cooking that stays local in register, with Kaga setting the terms instead of metropolitan display. At Horin / 方林 Restaurant, the menu is shaped by supplier-led ingredients, so the day’s direction comes from what arrives and how that arrival changes with the calendar. Yamada Yuji’s method treats seasonality as a working framework. Each service begins with the region’s offering, and the kitchen responds to it directly, rather than forcing a fixed idea onto the plate. That restraint carries through the food itself. Kaga’s slower pace and exacting seasons show up in the kitchen’s choices, where clarity matters more than elaboration. Yamada Yuji’s cooking follows seasonal Japanese patterns with a discipline that keeps texture and timing in focus. The cuisine does not push for spectacle; it lets ingredients, and the moment they are at their best, do the work.