SEN

There's no better way to absorb a city's essence than literally tasting it. Enjoy the culturally-rich city of Kyoto at SEN, a traditional Japanese restaurant that celebrates the local area at every turn — from the ingredients and cooking techniques to the decor and aesthetics. Just a few minutes away from central Kyoto, detached from the busy streets, owner Takeshi Sugisawa incorporates the best cooking techniques used in many famous restaurants in Kyoto with skills gained from culinary experience in London. This results in a new method of creating Japanese cuisine: uniquely cooked while still sticking to the traditions of the cuisine. The main draw of SEN is its use of only the best ingredients Kyoto has to offer — including pine mushrooms, Kyoto-grown vegetables, Tamba beef, black abalone, and Kyoto Ohara water. Their sake collection, however, is mainly from Tohoku, purchased with the intent to support the disaster-stricken area in its time of economic need.