i. Biography
Katsuaki Okiyama has been chef of Abri Soba in Paris, France, since 2016, following a path that began outside Tokyo, passed through French-cuisine study in Japan, and continued through Abri in Paris. The arc is unusually clear, almost architectural in its shape: origin, training, a Paris kitchen, then a second Paris role that was later recognized by the Michelin Guide with Bib Gourmand honors in 2024 and 2025.
Beginnings
Born outside Tokyo, Okiyama first studied French cuisine in Japan. The result is a beginning that feels less like a preface than a foundation. The detail is small, but it carries the whole first movement of his story. He trained in Japan, not France, and that distinction gives his later journey a particular texture. French cuisine became the basis of his education there, and the path that followed was built on translation as much as ambition — taking a classic repertoire and carrying it into a different professional landscape. The story begins not with spectacle, but with study.
The Rise
Paris enters the narrative through Abri, where Okiyama worked as chef. It is a concise credit, but an important one, because it places him inside the city that would become central to his professional identity. In 2016, he was chef at Abri Soba in Paris. The title remained spare — simply chef — yet the appointment sharpened the outline of the career. From that point on, the chronology became even more legible: a Japanese-born chef trained in French cuisine, working in Paris, attached to a venue whose name would later appear in the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand listings. There is a quiet power in that sequence, and it does not need embellishment. It moves with the exactness of dates and places: study in Japan, chef at Abri, chef at Abri Soba from 2016, then Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand recognition in 2024 and again in 2025. The rise is measured, but unmistakable.
Today
Since 2016, Okiyama has led Abri Soba as chef. That date gives the role its weight: this is not a brief assignment or a passing line on a résumé, but a sustained chapter, the one through which many people will encounter his work. The Michelin Guide named the Paris venue a Bib Gourmand in 2024 and 2025. For a chef whose known route runs from French-cuisine study in Japan to two Paris roles, those honors mark a public acknowledgment of a career built through a tightly linked series of places rather than a long catalog of institutions. What remains most vivid is the clarity of the path itself. Born outside Tokyo. Educated in French cuisine in Japan. Chef at Abri. Chef at Abri Soba from 2016. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand in 2024 and 2025. It is a career told through a few exact points, each one carrying the next forward.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Katsuaki
What roles has Katsuaki Okiyama held?
He has been chef at Abri Soba in Paris since 2016 and also worked as chef at Abri in Paris.
What is Katsuaki Okiyama doing now?
Since 2016, he has been chef of Abri Soba (Paris, France).
Where else has Katsuaki Okiyama worked?
He has worked as chef at Abri (Paris, France).
