Beyond the reservation

Before the meal

• A private table briefingA dossier written for your table and dates: the lineage, the season, the etiquette. Order ten days ahead.

  A dossier composed from scratch for your table and your travel dates — never a template: the chef's lineage, what that very week's season will put in front of you, the etiquette, the conversation openers, what to wear. One edition per guest, set like a private printing (PDF) with your names and date on the cover. Order by ten days before you fly.

• Order for me — your menu, decided in advanceAt à la carte houses we compose the evening from the house’s own menu. Order two weeks ahead.

  At à la carte houses we compose your evening before you arrive — dishes and drinks chosen from the house's own menu, around your tastes. Where the house welcomes bring-ins, we can also source a bottle you love and have it waiting at the counter; tell us when you request (the bottle and any corkage are settled with the house). Order by two weeks ahead.

• Getting to the tableFree with every booking: the station exit, the walk, the entrance and a taxi card in Japanese.

  Counters seat everyone at once, entrances are often unmarked, and taxi drivers do not always know the address. So with every booking we confirm, the way there comes with it, at no charge: the nearest station and exit, the walk, a photo of the entrance, a taxi card in Japanese, and when to leave your hotel to be on time. It is a courtesy that accompanies a confirmed booking rather than something we sell on its own, and we are not a travel agency: we do not book transport or buy tickets.

At the table

• A food-culture docent at your sideA guide who reads the counter with you, by the half or full day. Request four weeks ahead.

  More than an interpreter — a guide who can read the counter: why this cut, why this order, what the chef just did and why it matters. Arranged by the half day (four hours) or the full day (eight hours), walking the journey with you, transport included. If you would like the docent at your table, we ask the house and secure a seat where possible; their meal is billed to you at cost. Request four weeks ahead.

• A dining companion for one mealOne of our hosts sits with you and speaks with the chef; quoted per house first.

  Some houses seat guests from overseas only with a Japanese speaker at the table; sometimes you simply want your own language beside you at the counter. We seat one of our own hosts for the meal — they handle the exchange with the chef, take the course and tea; alcohol only with your consent. Their seat is settled by us, so at the house you pay for yourselves alone. One all-inclusive quote covers their meal and our arrangement; it depends on the house’s course price, so we confirm it individually, and with the house, before anything is charged.

• A celebration, staged with the houseDessert, flowers, a keepsake; one flat fee.

  A birthday, an anniversary, a quiet milestone — we compose it with the house: a dessert presentation, flowers, a keepsake to carry home. One flat fee, goods included, nothing billed on top. For grander productions — a proposal, a surprise built across the whole evening — talk to us individually.

Around the meal

• Visit the makers behind your tableThe brewery, kiln, market or forge behind the house you book. Request three weeks ahead.

  The brewery that made tonight's sake, the kiln that fired the plates, the market where the chef buys at dawn, the soy-sauce house, the knife forge — we arrange a visit tied to the house you are booking. Most visits and tastings open to the public take bookings only in Japanese. A special visit — a process not normally shown, time with the brewer or potter themselves, a visit outside opening hours — is offered only once the maker has agreed. Quoted individually before anything is arranged; the site's own fees are at cost. The fee is charged only when the visit is confirmed; if we cannot arrange it, nothing is due. You travel there yourselves, with directions from us. Most makers speak only Japanese, so a docent can join you for half a day. Request three weeks ahead (four for a special visit).

After the meal

• Sourcing what you fell forWe contact the maker and arrange the purchase; shipping depends on your country.

  The ceramicist whose plate you ate from, the knife from the counter, the bottle you can't find at home — we contact the maker and arrange the purchase. International shipping depends on each country's import rules — knives and bottles have their own — so we confirm what is possible individually.

• A letter to the chef, in JapaneseA proper letter of thanks, written and sent in your name.

  The guests a house remembers are the ones who write. After your meal we compose and send a proper Japanese letter of thanks in your name — the kind of gesture that turns one dinner into a standing relationship, and changes how your next request lands.

On the days you choose

• A concierge on callOne contact by phone, 9:00⁠–⁠21:00 JST, answered in English.

  One point of contact for the day, by phone from 9:00 to 21:00 JST. Changes, additions, small emergencies — call us, and we handle everything with the house in Japanese while you keep eating well. The phone is answered in English; outside those hours, email us and we reply by email in your own language. Book as many days as you like.