Daisuke Nomura

Coming Up

Shojin Ryori sets the frame for Daisuke Nomura’s work: restraint first, then depth, with vegetables and seaweed carrying the weight of the dish through gentle dashi. Since 2011, that approach has been applied at Sougo in Tokyo, where the food is built to let ingredient character and stock read clearly in the same register.

Where They Are Now

At Sougo, the cooking is shaped as a practical expression of Shojin Ryori rather than a style exercise. Daisuke Nomura describes the aim plainly: “I want to cook dishes enjoyable for all guests from every generation, every culture, and every diet.” The point is not to dilute the tradition, but to make its discipline legible across a wider table.

Signature

Shaped by Shojin Ryori, Daisuke Nomura’s cooking works from what vegetables, seaweed, and dashi can carry on their own. The technique is about layering one kind of umami over another without obscuring either source. In that structure, the food stays measured and direct, with composition doing the work that garnish or excess would otherwise try to do.

In Their Words “As a Shojin Ryori chef, the most memorable dishes are those that go beyond technique or taste. They are those that give me the opportunity to share moments of gratitude with my guests.” “I layer the Umami from the ingredients with the Umami from gentle Dashi stock made with vegetables and seaweed.”

Honors

Two Michelin stars and Plant Forward Global 50 place Daisuke Nomura’s work in a field where precision and restraint are already part of the measure. The recognition fits a practice built on clarity, seasonal focus, and an ingredient-led vegetarian register.