Hida Kisetsuryori Sakana

A meal at this traditional Japanese restaurant located up on a hill in Takayama City is not your everyday dining experience. For one, it received a Michelin star in the Aichi-Gifu-Mie edition of the Guide in 2019, meaning that the cuisine has established itself as a cut above. But it soon becomes evident to any guests arriving at its doorstep that the owner-chef of Hida Kisetsuryori Sakana, Imai Hayao, has an enormous love of nature — so much so that every single aspect of the restaurant is touched by nature one way or the other. Chef Imai gathers the ingredients from the mountains himself, including wild vegetables and mushrooms. To complement the produce of the Japanese Alps, meat and seafood from the suburbs of Hida and Sea of Japan — including the highest grade of Hida beef as well as rare game meat — are specially sourced for the restaurant. The meat can be served in all sorts of ways, like shabu-shabu, steak, and sukiyaki. This beautiful restaurant with an exterior and interior of a classic, luxurious Japanese home overlooks the beautiful Japanese Alps. It's difficult to decide what's the more beautiful thing: the immaculate plating of Chef Imai's dishes, or the spectacular view — day or night — of the majestic Gifu mountains.