Michelin Guide

"Los Angeles-born chef, Niki Nakayama, is a proud pioneer in the modern kaiseki tradition. Her clever creations are delightfully unbound by Japanese tradition; instead, she rather inventively works within the spirit of it. A nightly tasting menu might begin with a small glass of apple sake, followed by pristine scallop tartare coupled with sanbaizu gelée, carrot purée, toasted sunflower seeds and crispy carrot chips."

Brad A. Johnson

"Chef/owner Niki Nakayama is a former protégé of the legendary Morihiro Onodera (once the chef/owner of Mori Sushi), though Nakayama focuses her talent on kaiseki, a classical style of Japanese cooking that dictates a specific progression of textures, temperatures, tastes and seasonal ingredients. It can take two or three hours to get through a meal here, but it's well worth it."

Kaitlin Orr

"The modern kaiseki tasting menu prepared by Chefs Niki Nakayama and Carole Iida was one of the best meals of my life. Thank you, chefs, for putting such heart and creativity into each dish. I am humbled and inspired by your passion for food."

Condé Nast Traveler

"Thoughtful's the word here, at a three-hour Japanese culinary experience that could transform the way you view food."

Farley Elliott

"It’s a kaiseki restaurant, definitely, but unlike — both in ingredients and preparation — a lot of what one might find in Japan. That’s why n/naka has been quietly transforming its entire menu, attempting to source as much as possible from right here in California. The result is a beautiful agedashi presentation using rock cod and tomatillos — very Japanese, but even more California."

Zagat

“A ”feast for the eyes“ and the ”gourmet“ palate, the ”modern“ Japanese multicourse kaiseki meals is an ”ultimate experience“ that consists of an ”incredible sequence“ of ”intricate“, ”exquisite“ dishes, all displaying the ”delicate mastery“ of ”genius“ chef Niki Nakayama."

Tien Nguyen

"Niki Nakayama’s cooking is a beautiful study in stillness and fluidity, as ethereal as it is cerebral. What you will have is a proper kaiseki meal, 13 restrained courses in which each dish stays true to a theme or idea, or the culinary equivalent of a structured poem that follows rules of meter and rhyme."

Helen Rosner

"Almost all of kaiseki’s rules can be subverted by the chef; knowing how and when to break them is the most confident expression of kaiseki mastery. For the hearty course called shiizakana, which typically features a meaty soup or stew, Nakayama serves pasta: a swirl of spaghetti alla chitarra, tossed in a creamy ragu of abalone liver and pickled cod roe, topped with Burgundy black truffles. In a meal of restrained and finely drawn flavors, it growls with a brazen decadence. It is the only dish ... Read more

Gowri Chandra

"The pepper paste is fermented with California bergamot, that bounty of Los Angeles winter, instead of the traditional Japanese citrus. This reverence for nature is at the heart of kaiseki; Seasonality and locality are secondary benefits, not pursuits in and of themselves. This is a practice that Nakayama has diligently honed over the years, which contributes to the intentionality of her cuisine."

Kathryn Romeyn

"You’ll want to block off at least three hours of your day for a meal at n/naka, Los Angeles’s temple to the elaborate, multi-course traditional Japanese feast known as kaiseki. Chef-owner Niki Nakayama—the world’s sole female kaiseki master and a James Beard semifinalist—has created an intimate, authentically Japanese space for up to 26 guests to savor one of two 13-course tasting menus."