Florilège Reservations and Introduction

About Restaurant Florilège, one of Tokyo’s most well-known fine dining concepts.

Founded in 2009, then shifting to Jingumae in 2015 and again to the Azabudai Hills complex in 2023, Florilège has delighted guests with over a decade of gastronomic innovation. Its cuisine is known for its elegance and quality. A perennial favorite of critics, Florilege is listed in the Michelin guide with two stars and a green star. The restaurant has been in the Guide for 7 years straight, as well as recipient of the #2 spot on 2024’s Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and #36 on the 2025 World’s Best Restaurant list.

The head chef is Hiroyasu Kawate、 son of a French chef himself and a Quintessence alma mater. He plants his feet in French cuisine while allowing his imagination to breathe new life into Tokyo dining. The restaurant has become well known both domestically and abroad for its frequent events and Chef Kawate’s advocacy of sustainable gastronomy. 

The Long Table

The format and location of Florilege has changed several times. At the restaurant’s most recent iteration, Florilège reaches skyward, replacing its basement-hideout locale for a second-story location in Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza D, overlooking modern Tokyo. 

At Florilège 2.0, as Chef Kawate calls it, the restaurant’s counter has become a communal table, wrapping and extending beyond a central kitchen. Sitting face-to-face with strangers mirrors the up-front approach to plant-based cuisine Florilège is embracing. At certain seats, light from the window illuminates lunch courses with a stunning glow, while others allow diners to experience the rush and heat of the kitchen up close.

A Plant-Based Menu

Rather than doubling down on exclusivity, this storied restaurant is a place where mundane things – even as pedestrian as sharing a table – are reconsidered as something notable and mind-opening. The restaurant frequently reinvents itself, always pursuing the future.

Chef Kawate and team actively make use of household vegetables. Rather than always using the rarest, most exclusive produce, Florilège offers a menu that invents from the every day. By doing so, Florilège lingers in the minds of its most important diners: those whose casual interest in sustainability leaves them primed to see its potential in the dining room, and perhaps their life.

Chef Kawate’s plant-based menu gives guests the option of choosing a vegetable or meat main dish, while using sustainable ingredient choices throughout. The turnip pie served during one autumn course proves that with finesse, a vegetarian plat can hold its own even in a world of tempting proteins. However, despite pursuing a plant-based menu, Florilège hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon to offer fully vegan or vegetarian menus.

A Star Chef

Chef Kawate is proud to be a chef that innovates, never satisfied to stop just with an element’s basic flavor. Florilège’s quality doesn’t rely solely on its ingredients. It proves that even in Japan, a land of premium ingredients, amazing cuisine is achievable through a chef’s skill and creativity – not raw materials alone. The philosophy hits home for diners, reminding them they too have the agency choose sustainable options in whatever circumstances they have.

Even a decade ago, before sustainability became the buzz word it is today, Florilège chef Hiroyasu Kawate began to seed the future of sustainable gastronomy. Now, backed by two Michelin stars and a green star, that commitment has been further pushed into the limelight. 

Chef Kawate is well known for his wide network and frequent collaborations and events. Not only four-hands dinners, like the Mingles collaboration in early 2025, but also a-la-carte popups and local events. His active presence in the media and gourmet communities has certainly played a role in Florilège’s rise to popularity, furthering the restaurant’s own sustainability goals.

The Flavor of Tokyo’s Urban Sustainability

Chef Kawate points out that many restaurants that highlight vegetables as their main feature are located in rural areas. They serve produce meters away from its origins and go to great lengths to protect its inherent flavor. In contrast, Chef Kawate pursues a type of plant-based cuisine that is uniquely expressive of Tokyo and its urban inter-connectedness.  

Chef Kawate’s newest menus appeal not only to locals, but also to the large number of inbound guests visiting Florilège. Creative dishes incorporate Japanese elements into French cuisine, making sure the menu is always fresh for regulars. While the alcoholic pairing features a wide selection, mostly natural wines, an equally delicious non-alcoholic pairing invites guests to enjoy a symphony of teas, juices, and infusions. 

『Florilège』Reservations

Reservations from the home page

Florilège accepts restaurants through their official home page via the Tablecheck platform. Reservations are accepted a month before the desired date or sooner and parties are capped at 4 guests per group. Diners select either a vegetable or meat main dish at the time of reservation and include any allergens or important details.

Reservation Method 2: Phone

Reservations are generally accepted online, but the store contact number is +81-3-6435-8018. Specific requests, such as allergen or menu inquiries after reservation submission can be handled by email at Florilège@aoyama-Florilège.jp.

Reservation Method 3: Online

Reservations are also available through Pocket Concierge and Tableall, with several other booking sites offering reservation requests.

Florilège Branches and Sister Stores

Adzuki to Kouri

Notable for its chiboust kakigoori, Adzuki to Kouri impresses guests with its simple, grey interior punctuated by colorful bowls of shaved ice. A seasonal banana flavor is especially popular, but creative interpretations, such as seaweed and white chocolate and tomato-strawberry medley keep regulars coming back. The shop is headed by former Florilège pastry chef, Miho Horio, and the two brands occasionally do collaborations. Adzuki to Kouri also offers french toast and soup directed by Chef Kawate as a side dish. The counter-only venue is located near Yoyogi station in Shinjuku ward. Reservations are strongly recommended.

Den Kushi Flori

A permanent testament to the friendly rivalry and close relationship between Chef Kawate and Den’s Zaiyu Hasegawa, Den Kushi Flori riffs on the theme of skewers. The skewer, kushi in Japanese, connects the contrasting styles of both restaurants. The stick acts as a bridge between Florilège’s high concepts and Den’s homey Japanese cooking. Rather than a long-term collaboration or best-of list from the two restaurants’ signature dishes, Den Kushi Flori is a unique experience. A totally original menu takes elements of Florilège and Den to new creative heights.

Sodden Frog

Just a floor above Florilège in Azabudai Hills Garden Tower B, Sodden Frog is the team’s newest concept, which brings back old signature dishes while delighting guests with original menu items. Notable inclusions are the sukiyaki-style beef carpaccio and a chocolate omelette. A “snack” course, cocktail course, and mocktail course are all available, and feature food and drinks not available to a-la-carte diners. The drinks are impactful, with surprising flavor but low abv overall, meaning they go down easily. 

Florilège Descendents

Jfree

Chef Tsubasa Jinnai first worked in Florliege’s kitchen before shifting to Chef Kawate’s own proving grounds, Quintessence. While Chef Tsubasa has experience at both locations, his concept is considered a part of the Quintessence lineage. The Miyazaki-born chef cites his first experience at Florliege as a major inspiration in his career. At his own restaurant in Kagurazaka, Jfree, Chef Jinnai uses his experience in French cuisine to offer an omakase-only menu of Wa-modern French. His plating, delicate use of herbs and light touch that combines Japanese essence with French food has earned the restaurant a Top 100 award domestically and a spot in the Michelin guide.

https://omakaseje.com/restaurants/bb142065

Tiffany’s Blue Box Café

Japan’s first Tiffany Blue Box Café opened in Tokyo in August 2025, under Florilège alma mater Natsuko Shoji. The cafe is open from breakfast through dinner, serving an exclusive Breakfast at Tiffany’s course as well as afternoon tea and a la carte options. Signature items include scrambled eggs with opulent toppings like uni and caviar, and miniature versions of Chef Shoji’s swirling fruit cakes.

été

Currently on hiatus, été is the first restaurant by Natsuko Shoji, former Florilège pastry chef. Chef Shoji was named Asia’s Best Female Chef in 2022, and Best Pastry Chef in 2020. In 2022, she also took home the Best Chef FoodArt award. Her restaurant is known for accepting just one group a day and for its stunning, delicious cakes which have even inspired official Pokemon cards. While the restaurant is currently not taking reservations, cakes can still be ordered for takeaway on OMAKASE.