The story
JIMGU at Enowa, in Beppu, Japan, is a farm-to-table kitchen at 544 Kawakami Yufuin-cho, and it holds a Gault&Millau score of 15.5 (2026). The restaurant serves both breakfast and dinner, and the menu changes with whatever the farm has ready that day.
Chef Tashi Gyamtso, who was born in Tibet, trained in New York and later worked as sous chef at Blue Hill at Stone Barns before moving to Japan. Each morning the cooks walk out to the farm and pick produce at its peak of ripeness. Recipes are adjusted around what they find, so the same dish rarely appears twice in the same form. The kitchen and front-of-house team of more than 25 people work toward that same goal.
Dinner runs in three seatings, starting at 17:30, 18:00 or 18:30. Guests begin in the greenhouse with a talk and first courses, then move to the dining room. A meal usually lasts two and a half to three hours. When the weather allows, dessert is served on the terrace. Breakfast seatings run from 07:30 to 09:00, and guests choose their breakfast time after dinner.
Indoor plants, chosen to suggest a shrine forest, fill the dining room with deep, steady greens. JIMGU means "returning place" in Tibetan, which fits the calm the room aims for. The restaurant also holds a Smart Green Guide rating of 4 Radishes (2026), and the plates are kept sparsely garnished so the produce carries the flavor.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
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