Chef
Yoshinori Iwasaki
- Discipline
- Chef
i. Biography
Yoshinori Iwasaki is chef of Iwasaki in Getxo, Spain, where Kyoto-trained precision and restraint meet the Basque coast. The work traces back to renowned ryokans and noted restaurants in Kyoto, where kitchen rhythm, quiet service discipline, and exacting standards shape a cook’s hand as much as formal training.
The Climb
Early in his career, Yoshinori Iwasaki worked as chef at Kodaiji Wakuden in Kyoto, chef at Gion Maruyama in Kyoto, and head chef at Hiiragiya Bekkan in Kyoto. Each post added weight to a style formed in some of Kyoto’s most exacting kitchens: the measured seriousness of a celebrated dining room, the emphasis on seasonality as daily practice, and the pressure that comes with detail in every gesture. That background produced a way of cooking built on control, balance, and clarity rather than flourish. Today, Yoshinori is proprietor / chef of Iwasaki, and that role turns his Kyoto lineage into the house itself. In Getxo, the restaurant carries that training forward without treating it as a relic; the work is translated into the present through his decisions in both kitchen and room. As proprietor / chef, he is responsible for the food and for the identity of the place, so the authorship sits in the house as much as on the plate.
Today
In Spain, Yoshinori leads Iwasaki in Getxo as chef. The distance from Kyoto does not change the underlying method: craft first, tradition respected, and the calm pressure of someone shaped by demanding kitchens. In Getxo, that background reads as understatement rather than display, carried in the cadence of service, the steadiness of the cooking, and the way a Kyoto discipline now finds form on Spain’s northern edge.
Career - proprietor / chef — Iwasaki, Kyoto - chef — Kodaiji Wakuden, Kyoto - chef — Gion Maruyama, Kyoto - head chef — Hiiragiya Bekkan, Kyoto
FAQ Where did Yoshinori Iwasaki work before? Yoshinori Iwasaki's earlier career included Kodaiji Wakuden, Gion Maruyama, and Hiiragiya Bekkan. What recognition has Yoshinori Iwasaki received? Michelin star.
