Kyoto Kitcho

Kitcho is a top-ranking restaurant that was established in 1930 in Osaka by Teiichi Yuki. In 1948 he also converted the private home on the scenic banks of the Oigawa River in Arashiyama, Kyoto, into a traditional ryotei, known as the ‘Kyoto Kitcho Arashiyama’. Set in beautiful mountainous surroundings it covers an area of some 1,980 square metres.

The founder, Teiichi Yuki, mixed foie gras, caviar and other Western ingredients with traditional Japanese cuisine, influencing current Japanese cuisine greatly, and was the first chef to receive the shijuhosho (purple ribbon), a Japanese decoration awarded for cultural merit. He is also credited with having brought the esoteric kaiseki cuisine of the tea ceremony into the mainstream of Japanese cuisine.