#Japan #Tokyo #Diners Club #French Cuisine #Alain Ducasse

Discover the Diners Club France Restaurant Week 2025

The highly anticipated Diners Club France Restaurant Week 2025 is set to take place from September 20 to October 20, 2025. This gastronomic event, organized by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Club, sees over 500 French restaurants across Japan participating, offering exquisite dishes at reasonable prices, starting from just 3,000 yen. The event aims to make French cuisine accessible to everyone, not just Diners Club cardholders.

This year marks a significant milestone as it celebrates the 15th anniversary of the event. Renowned French chef Alain Ducasse, whose vision helped establish this culinary celebration, will visit Japan, hosting a special event in Fukui Prefecture. This occasion will allow local producers, chefs, and students to engage in a unique culinary experience.

Spotlight on Five Outstanding Chefs

Every year, the France Restaurant Week designates remarkable chefs across the country as Focus Chefs, showcasing their unique concepts and use of local ingredients. Here’s a look at five distinguished chefs participating this year:

1. Chef Nae Ogawa, natuRe tokyo (Shinjuku, Tokyo)

Chef Ogawa transcends the traditional Farm to Table movement, focusing on sustainable future dining. With overseas experience from Hawaii, he emphasizes a philosophy of living harmoniously with nature. His event-exclusive dish features gouda cheese gougère stuffed with chicken liver mousse, complemented by guava confit—insuring a delightful tasting experience.

2. Chef Ryunosuke Matsuda, restaurant MATSUDA (Sendai, Miyagi)

Applying traditional French culinary techniques, Chef Matsuda integrates seasonal produce from Miyagi and his home-grown ingredients into his free-spirited menu concepts. This commitment to local sourcing shines in his exclusive creation: a dual-layer crab consommé jelly and potato soup, topped with a quennelle of fragrant crab meat—a perfect representation of local flavors.

3. Chef Jine Nomura, Kodaiji KIWAMI (Kyoto)

Believing in the philosophy of local production for local consumption, Chef Nomura maximizes the use of regional ingredients. In 2024, he incorporates produce from Ishikawa Prefecture to aid in earthquake recovery efforts. His exclusive offering includes fried purple eggplant stuffed with eggplant mousse, elegantly paired with fig sweetness and caviar salt—a dish that embodies summer’s essence.

4. Chef Takuma Kobayashi, Island Cuisine Ah-sun (Naha, Okinawa)

Using local land and sea produce, Chef Kobayashi crafts dishes that represent nuchigusui, or