Ahora Aqui

Head Chef Yuki Yamaoka’s resume reads like a world tour. After cutting his teeth at the Park Hyatt Tokyo Kozue for 10 years, he was dispatched to the Consulate General of Japan in Milan, the Embassy of Japan in Bolivia and its equivalent in the United Kingdom. Concluding his stint with an Excellent Official Residence Chef award from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was then drawn to the mountains of Toyama Prefecture, where the mercurial Hokuriku climate brought forth produce and ingredients that could be found nowhere else in Japan. Having found his culinary palette, he needed a canvas. So he chose the Main Building of the Sano Family House, one of Takaoka City’s three majestic Tangible Cultural Properties, to establish Ahora Aqui—“now here” in Spanish. With innovative dishes that mimic the climate of the region—sometimes turbulent, sometimes mild—Chef Yamaoka has succeeded in creating a national treasure within a national treasure.