The story
Just a short walk from Kitayama Station and the quiet grounds of Daitokuji Temple, Raiz is an intimate restaurant that lets ingredients speak for themselves. Chef Hiroki Ioka, a Nara native, opened Raiz in October 2023 after a career that took him from Italian kitchens in Kyoto hotels to a modern Spanish restaurant under Chef Sora Kawashima, and later to study charcuterie in Hyogo. His path informs the cooking here: a contemporary style that resists easy labels.
“Each ingredient has a story from its birth to the present day,” Chef Ioka writes in his concept. “It is my duty to express that story on the plate with the utmost respect, so that you may enjoy it deliciously.” The kitchen works closely with local farmers who bring just-harvested vegetables to the door. The resulting cuisine is rustic, direct, and firmly rooted in the season—contemporary in technique, but pure in flavour.
Raiz offers both lunch and dinner courses. Lunch begins with several appetisers, a main course, house-made bread, dessert, and a post-meal drink. Dinner adds an extra course of petit fours and a deeper progression of dishes. The menu changes constantly with what the land provides. The dining room is compact: an eight-seat counter that looks into an open kitchen, offering a lively view of the cooking. For more privacy, there is a private room that seats up to six, welcoming families with children—a small children’s plate is available.
The name Raiz—spelled like the Spanish word for “root”—reflects the restaurant’s philosophy: to dig down to the origin of each ingredient and serve it with warmth. This honest approach earned Raiz a place in the Michelin Guide Kyoto・Osaka 2025 as a Michelin Recommended restaurant, a recognition the team notes with gratitude. It is a quiet, serious restaurant, well worth seeking out in its leafy corner of Kyoto.
Recognition
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