Japan Eats, Part IV: Ima in Kyoto

Kyoto, JAPAN — In Japanese, Ima means “living room.”
If only my own living room in the Bay Area were filled with the relaxing fragrance of cedar, the warmth of a crackling fire, and such tantalizing aromas as this one.
Tucked away on a quiet street that once housed kimono shops, this newcomer opened barely two months ago in a renovated 110-year-old townhouse.
With a small team of three, it is overseen by Chef Kiichi Imai, who trained at Michelin-starred Hotel de Yoshino in Wakayama, before going to work in several Tokyo restaurants. He later worked on the opening team for Michelin-starred Txispa, a wood-fire restaurant in Spain, before returning to Japan to cook most recently at Noma Kyoto.


One of the restaurant’s investors will surely be familiar to anyone with a sweet tooth in the Bay Area: Charles Chen, founder of Basuku Cheesecakes.
Ima is all of 10 seats at the counter, which affords a clear view of the live-fire grill fed with oak firewood from Miyami forest in Kyoto. From start to finish, the hearth plays a major role in the dishes, blending Japanese and French influences that meld with sure-handed searing and charring.
Even the menu is smudged with artful burn marks.
Read more