Hagi

This inspiring restaurant has a philosophy that revolves around farm-to-table dining, creating an experience that few in the world can match. Hagi, built from the ground up by chef-owner Hagi Harimoto, serves daily handpicked ingredients directly from Fukushima farms to guests of no more than one party a day. Because of the disaster that struck Fukushima, Chef Hagi seeks out partnerships with farms and producers in the area, inspiring him to try out new styles and approaches to cooking. The variation in the available vegetables each day offers new challenges as he seeks to get the very best out of them. In this way, new recipes are created, and new flavors bloom. The dishes that are presented in the menus include fresh-from-the-earth eggplants, tomatoes, corn, cabbage, broccoli, onions, potatoes, and even the local Iwaki specialty, okuimo potato. Since the menu constantly changes each day, the restaurant doesn't have a fixed list of dishes. Instead, the guests are given cards that describe the main ingredients of each. Their alternative business model banks on the idea that customers won't mind paying the extra dollar to enjoy authentic, organic, and fresh French-inspired Japanese cuisine, in an exclusive setting, while also supporting the farmers and producers of Fukushima through their difficult times. It seems their gamble paid off spectacularly.