Miho Horio

The Recognition Those two Opinionated About Dining Casual Japan rankings give the work a clear public measure: #13 in 2024, then #2 in 2025. The rankings are attached to a focused specialty: kakigōri, or Japanese shaved ice. At the Tokyo restaurant, Horio handles ice, fruit, texture, and temperature. Her cooking brings French technique to kakigōri.

The Work

Behind It The process begins before the bowl reaches the guest. She adjusts the blade of her ice machine to shave blocks of ice made with spring water from Nikko into fluffy, feathery flakes, then shapes the shavings into a mound before adding fresh fruit and toppings such as homemade syrups, compotes, and foams. Produce is central to the work. Horio sources pristine produce from around Japan. Her signature parfait showcases sweet azuki red beans, the classic kakigōri topping for which the café is named, paired with cream and flecks of meringue. Another dish, her French toast, is a slice of brioche fried in butter and served with azuki and espuma. The result is highly specific: spring-water ice from Nikko, shaved with attention to the blade; fruit selected from across Japan; and toppings such as homemade syrups, compotes, foams, cream, meringue, azuki, and espuma.

The Road Horio worked as pastry chef at Florilège in Tokyo, Japan. She founded the Tokyo restaurant and serves as its Executive Chef. Its name points directly to azuki, the sweet red bean topping that appears in her signature parfait and in the brioche French toast served with espuma. The career reads with unusual clarity: pastry chef, founder, Executive Chef, and a specialty around Japanese shaved ice.