A place of infinite possibility

Atelier KOTO opened its doors near Tokyo’s Hama-rikyu Gardens. It is a test kitchen—a relatively unknown concept in Japan—aiming to bring together culinary experts from around the world. At the heart of the project is Hajime Koto, the executive chef behind the eponymous fine dining brand HAJIME KOTO.

The latest talk in town is that the era of labor-intensive fine dining is coming to an end—but can this be true? Has our dream of providing true gastronomy to the world become obsolete?

It is true that there are currently many issues to be addressed within the restaurant industry, such as chef training, working conditions, and team management. But if that’s the case, we want to confront these problems head-on, rethink the restaurant from the ground up, and find a new path to making our dream a reality.

Atelier KOTO is a passion project for Chef Koto. He is supported by a team of chefs, pâtissiers, and sommeliers who have left their mark in the world of contemporary Japanese gastronomy. Each of them is a treasured colleague with whom Chef Koto has spent valuable time in the past.

A kitchen is a truly remarkable place where chefs make wonderful things happen. Atelier KOTO’s kitchen was designed by Chef Koto himself to give chefs the opportunity to perform at their best.

He enlisted Fujimak, a pioneering manufacturer of comprehensive commercial kitchen solutions, to customize every piece of equipment and recruited their technical team to participate in the project.

Atelier KOTO is a laboratory for experimenting with creative cooking methods, an academy for training teams of young chefs, and a salon for sharing information and unveiling new recipes—in short, it is a place of infinite possibility.

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Équipe de Atelier KOTO