July 18, 2026: Two-plus hours on the train from Tokyo landed us in Kyoto, where we checked into an Airbnb right across from Toji Temple — steps from the station, couldn’t have been easier.
Dinner was the main event: Kikunoi Honten, a three-Michelin-star kaiseki restaurant famous for seasonal Japanese cuisine built around kirei sabi — elegant, understated beauty. Our waiter Hayaido had a blast trading jokes with David, who has a gift for making instant friends with total strangers.
The dishes were almost too beautiful to eat — and a few demanded an acquired taste to really appreciate. The salt-grilled ayu (sweetfish) was a trip: bitter first, then suddenly sweet. Equally intriguing was a chilled lemon miso soup with water shield and chives — I’m obsessed with water shield’s slippery, silky-crunch texture, unlike anything I’ve had before. Another favorite was the grilled hamo rice, which I’m already plotting to recreate at home.
