Yama

The story

Yama, Tokyo – Michelin-Starred Dessert Restaurant in Shirokane

Yama: A Dessert Restaurant in Tokyo’s Shirokane

In a quiet corner of Minato-ku, Yama redefines what a dessert restaurant can be. Chef Koichi Katsumata, who trained in France and Australia at celebrated restaurants like Hostellerie Jerome and Vue de Monde, brings a singular vision to his Shirokane counter. Yama is not a patisserie with a few savory bites — it is a full-course restaurant built around sweets, earning a Michelin star for its high-quality, original cooking.

The restaurant’s name, Yama (山), means mountain, and the experience is one of ascent: each course builds toward a climax, with precision and restraint. The menu is entirely reservation-only, with starts at noon or 3:00 PM, and all guests begin together. This structure allows the kitchen to prepare each plate with the care it demands.

One example of the chef’s approach is the cherry and rosé wine jelly — a palate cleanser served near the end of the course. It combines ripe cherry juice and rosé wine jelly with cherry compote, finished with large cherries and an accent of fully ripened pickled plum. The sourness and salt of the plum give the dish definition, connecting the savoury prelude to the dessert finale. As the restaurant puts it, this is “originality that only Yama can achieve.”

Chef Koichi Katsumata’s Journey

Born in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, Katsumata began his career at the Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel before moving to En Cachette in Minami Aoyama. In France, he worked at Hostellerie Jerome in the south and Sola in Paris. In Australia, he cooked at Vue de Monde in Melbourne — then the city’s highest-rated restaurant — and at Bennelong in Sydney. This international training gives his cooking a clarity that is both French in technique and Japanese in sensibility.

The dining room is intimate, with counter seating that lets guests watch the plating of each dish. The atmosphere is calm and focused — a space where the food, not the décor, commands attention.

A Michelin Star for Originality

Yama’s Michelin star recognises not just technical skill but a bold concept: a restaurant where dessert is the main event, treated with the same seriousness as any haute cuisine kitchen. The chef’s ongoing series of “Topics” on the website — from a collaboration called Club Bâtard × Yama to seasonal creations like Spring ball and Petit four — shows a kitchen in constant dialogue with the calendar.

For those seeking a dining experience that is both refined and surprising, Yama offers something genuinely rare: a meal that ends where others begin, and a chef who has built a world around sweetness.