i. Biography
Hironori Maeda’s work at Mizumi in Macau is built from the core disciplines of Japanese cooking: ingredients handled with care, heat applied with judgment, and technique used to keep the result clear. The kitchen language is exacting, and that exactness is the point. Maeda’s career, which began in Kyoto, reads as a steady refinement of those fundamentals rather than a drift toward ornament.
The Path
At Mizumi at Wynn Palace, Hironori Maeda works as Executive Chef in a register shaped by calibration more than display. The cooking depends on measured timing, a close read of each ingredient and a constant respect for proportion. From Kyoto to Macau, the throughline is discipline: Japanese cuisine expressed through a precise kitchen, where restraint is not absence but method.
The Work Today
Mizumi in Macau is where Hironori Maeda applies a Japanese menu built around innovation, craftsmanship and artisanal techniques. The kitchen vocabulary is specific: first-grade Kuragakoi Rishiri Kombu kelp, artisanal Katsuobushi dried bonito flakes and high-quality Binchotan charcoal. In his hands, these ingredients function as working materials, chosen for the way they carry purity, depth and precision into the final dish. The balance in Maeda’s cooking comes from control that does not flatten character. Precise temperature control sits alongside close knowledge of how each ingredient shifts under heat, how flavor opens, and how smoke, broth and fire register in the finished plate. That combination keeps the work composed and elegant without stripping away texture or aroma.
Signature
Hironori's signature dishes include Whole Steamed Snow Crab, Toro with Sea Urchin and Kristal Caviar, Mizumi Sweet Takoyaki, grilled eel with sansho miso, and crispy grilled rosy sea bass. Together, they sketch a portrait of a chef who moves confidently between delicacy and richness, between the clean sweetness of shellfish and the deeper, more resonant notes of eel, miso and charcoal. Each dish carries the same underlying sense of control, with flavors arranged so that nothing feels crowded and every element has room to register.
Acclaim
The work is anchored in Kyoto, where Hironori Maeda began at Kitcho Arashiyama Honten. That early experience remains legible in the precision and composure of his cooking, where technique is used with purpose and small decisions matter. At Mizumi in Macau, those foundations are translated into a modern expression of Japanese cuisine—polished, exacting and still governed by the discipline first formed in Kyoto.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Hironori
What is Hironori Maeda's current role?
Hironori Maeda is Executive Chef.
What is Hironori Maeda known for?
Japanese cuisine.
