i. Biography
Kotaro Meguro treats cooking as a moving practice: not repetition, but revision. “I try never to use the successful combinations or cooking techniques from the previous menu in the next menu, and I always think about working without fear of change,” he says. The point is not novelty for its own sake; it is the discipline of refusing to settle, of keeping the work alert enough to answer the next menu on its own terms.
The Climb
At Hattori Nutrition College, the basics of the craft took hold before Kotaro Meguro moved into the kitchen work that would define his career. Since 2015, he has held the dual role of owner-chef and chef of abysse, where authorship and oversight sit in the same hands. The position requires more than continuity. It asks for a steady frame around a practice built on adjustment, with each service pushing the kitchen to stay responsive rather than fixed.
Today
Seafood cuisine is the area where Kotaro Meguro’s method reads most clearly. He traces that focus back to family memory: “My grandfather was a Japanese cuisine chef, and from a very young age I thought being a chef was a very cool profession, and I wanted to devote myself to mastering one thing.” The line speaks plainly about lineage and purpose. Mastery here is framed as concentration, not breadth; a long attention to one field, shaped by restraint and by close work with the materials in front of him.
Career - owner-chef — abysse, Tokyo, Japan (2015–present) - chef — abysse, Daikanyama, Tokyo, Japan (2015–present) Education: Hattori Nutrition College
Signature
Kotaro Meguro’s signature dish is Gyokuro. In the context of his cooking, it reads as a compressed example of his larger method: measured, deliberate, and built around nuance. The dish reflects the same refusal to lean on habit that runs through his menus, where each plate is expected to hold its own rather than repeat what came before.
In Their Words “I try never to use the successful combinations or cooking techniques from the previous menu in the next menu, and I always think about working without fear of change.” “When I look at a dish, I want it to evoke a scene in my mind.” Those lines describe a cook who works from both technique and image. For Kotaro Meguro, the plate is not only a technical result; it is also a constructed scene, something meant to carry atmosphere as well as flavor.
Recognition
Kotaro Meguro’s honors include Michelin star. The award sits comfortably with a practice built on consistency under change: enough control to keep the work exact, enough flexibility to keep it from hardening into routine.
FAQ Where did Kotaro Meguro train or study? Kotaro Meguro trained at Hattori Nutrition College. What recognition has Kotaro Meguro received? Michelin star.
