i. Biography
Owner-Chef Seiichi Honda of ZURRIOLA in Tokyo has built a practice by moving through kitchens where discipline mattered: French training, European rigor, Basque technique, then Tokyo, where those references could be folded into a personal register. The result is Modern Spanish cuisine filtered through Japanese seasonal sensibility, with the work held together by attention to ingredients rather than ornament.
The Climb
French restaurant training, and work at Georges Blanc and Pierre Orsi, put Seiichi Honda in kitchens where precision and restraint were baseline requirements. That foundation carries through his later posts. As sous-chef at Le Fronton in France's Basque region, he worked in a setting that sharpened the contours of his cooking. The Basque line became clearer when he moved on to Casa Urola in San Sebastián, Spain (2002–2006), where the relation between market, season, and sea became part of his working method. Honda then brought that experience back to Japan with a broader frame of reference. He joined RyuGin in Japan (from 2006), then worked as sous-chef at Sant Pau (Tokyo branch) in Tokyo, Japan (from 2008). Those roles added another layer to a style that treats tradition as something to be handled carefully, not copied wholesale. Since 2011, Seiichi Honda has been owner / chef of ZURRIOLA. The restaurant gives his career a fixed point: Spanish in structure, Japanese in seasonal feeling, and shaped by the accumulated habits of kitchens in France, Spain, and Tokyo.
Today
Since 2011, Honda has been Owner-Chef of ZURRIOLA in Tokyo, Japan. He opened the restaurant that year, creating a place where the range of his experience could be organized into a single working expression. At ZURRIOLA, the food is identified with Modern Spanish cuisine that merges with Japanese seasonal sensibility, which keeps the cooking grounded in technique while allowing it to stay responsive to place and season. The restaurant is also identified with refined Basque cuisine, a thread that matches the earlier stages of his career. The role is straightforward: Owner-Chef. Honda is the author of the restaurant’s direction, its Spanish foundation, and its seasonal expression in Tokyo. ZURRIOLA functions less as a departure than as a consolidation point, where the lessons of Georges Blanc, Domaine de Châteauvieux, Pierre Orsi, Le Fronton, Casa Urola, RyuGin, and Sant Pau (Tokyo branch) can be read in the structure of the menu.
Signature
Honda’s cooking is built on quality ingredients. In practice, that means the work depends on precision, seasonality, and the decision to let strong produce carry the plate without excess intervention.
Recognition
Seiichi Honda has received Michelin Guide Tokyo, two stars (2025). Seiichi's honors include Two Michelin stars. For a career shaped by accumulation and control, that recognition matches the rigor and poise associated with his work at ZURRIOLA.
Profile updated August 2026
FAQ
Asked of Seiichi
What is Seiichi Honda's current role?
Seiichi Honda is Owner-Chef.
Where did Seiichi Honda train or study?
Seiichi Honda trained at French restaurant and Georges Blanc.
What recognition has Seiichi Honda received?
Two Michelin stars.
