Chef-Owner

Naoyuki Aoyama

Chef-Owner, il AOYAMA

Discipline: Chef-Owner

Portrait of Naoyuki Aoyama

i. Biography

Naoyuki Aoyama is the Chef-Owner of il AOYAMA in Higashi Ward, Nagoya (2024–present), a role built on exacting care, quiet discipline, and a disciplined attention to flavor.

The Sunday letter

Read Made By's new profiles every Sunday.

Meet the chefs, winemakers and sommeliers behind the places we cover. See a sample below before you subscribe.

See a sample of the Sunday email

One email a week. Unsubscribe from any issue.

Coming Up

Training at Tsuji Culinary Institute gave Naoyuki Aoyama the technical base that shapes a kitchen long after school ends. The value of that kind of formation is simple: it instills rigor, calibrates the palate, and sets standards around texture, temperature, and seasoning that stay in place when the work gets real. In his case, that early grounding points to a practice defined by precision, patience, and close attention to detail. Since 2014, il AOYAMA has been the center of Naoyuki Aoyama’s work. The name carries authorship, but the more important fact is continuity: a restaurant that has held its line over time, allowing technique and judgment to accumulate rather than reset. That long run since 2014 frames a chef whose practice has developed through consistency, not display.

Where They Are Now

Naoyuki Aoyama is Chef-Owner of il AOYAMA in Higashi Ward, Nagoya (2024–present). In that role, the restaurant becomes the clearest expression of his craft: a Nagoya address, a chef-owner’s responsibility, and a style organized around refinement. Since 2014, il AOYAMA has been defined by steadiness and a clear respect for flavor in polished form.

Career - Chef-Owner — il AOYAMA, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan (2014–present) Education: Tsuji Culinary Institute

Signature

Naoyuki's signature dishes include Italian porcini mushroom risotto, Kegani, Osetra caviar, Nagoya cochin chicken consommé jelly, Ikura, and beef consommé jelly. The line-up moves between richness and restraint: porcini mushroom risotto for earth and depth, Osetra caviar for briny clarity, Kegani for delicacy, and consommé jellies that point to concentration and precision as tools of flavor. The common thread is control. Each dish reads as distinct, but they share the same underlying logic: intensity without excess, finish without fuss, and an attention to texture and balance that keeps the cooking composed.

FAQ What is Naoyuki Aoyama's current role? Naoyuki Aoyama is Chef-Owner. Where did Naoyuki Aoyama train or study? Naoyuki Aoyama trained at Tsuji Culinary Institute.