We are pleased to announce that “Hotel La Vigne Hakuba by Onko Chishin” has appointed Yamato Imanishi as the new executive chef of our on-site restaurant “LA VIGNE DINING FUDO (La Vigne Dining Fuudo)”.
Having honed his skills in France, Imanishi will create new gastronomy that connects Hakuba’s terroir and ingredients through his culinary sensibility.
About Executive Chef Yamato Imanishi
Born in 1988 in Kochi Prefecture.
After graduating as valedictorian from École Tsuji Osaka, he moved to France at age 20. He trained at the renowned “Michel Bras” in Laguiole village and refined his skills at Paris establishments including “Septime” and “Le Chateaubriand,” serving as section chef at each. Notably, during his tenure at “Le Chateaubriand” in 2011, the restaurant ranked 9th in “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.”
He gained experience at five establishments in total, including Michelin three-star restaurants. After returning to Japan, he served as chef at multiple restaurants. In April 2025, he joined Onkochishin Co., Ltd. and was appointed executive chef of “LA VIGNE DINING FUDO,” the restaurant at Hotel La Vigne Hakuba.
【Statement on Appointment】
When I first set foot in Hakuba, I felt like I had returned to my origins. The landscape before me overlapped with the scenery of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc that I had seen during my training days in France. Hakuba village reminded me of the pure passion I had as a chef back then.
Throughout my career as a chef, I have spent my days confronting the power of ingredients head-on. What I strongly felt through this experience is that “simple cuisine, stripped of unnecessary decoration, reflects the true essence”. Not overworking the ingredients and listening to their life force has become the core of my culinary philosophy.
What I want to create here in Hakuba is “a dish that can only be tasted today”.
For example, taking wild vegetables that staff gathered in the mountains in the morning and transforming them into cuisine that same day. I want to capture the breath of this land directly in such “time-sensitive” dishes. And this cuisine cannot be completed by me alone. It requires the thoughts of staff who venture into the mountains, dialogue with suppliers, colleagues who love this land, and all staff members—only then is a dish born.
While imagining our guests’ smiles, I hope to nurture this “cycle of deliciousness” in this land, where the entire team, both inside and outside the kitchen, creates cuisine together.
