The Kaiseki and Japanese Chef

Japanese private cooking has become one of the most requested profiles in London, New York, Singapore and the Gulf, and it is the least forgiving. The menu is short, the ingredients are visible, and a single piece of fish that is a day past its best cannot be hidden by sauce. Everything depends on supply: a chef with a relationship to a serious importer and a landing day, and the honesty to change the menu when the box disappoints.

The work is slower than it looks. Dashi in the morning, rice judged by the grain, vegetables cut into shapes that take a knife skill European kitchens do not teach, and a sequence of eight small courses in specific ceramics. Service is part of the cooking: the courses arrive in order, at a temperature, and the host’s job is to seat the table and let the rhythm happen.

Rates are the highest in this guide: 1,200 to 3,000 euros for a dinner for eight to ten, plus produce that can exceed 150 euros a head. In return you get the most precise cooking available in a private room, and the format that guests photograph least and remember most.