Sushi Matsumoto (Nishinomiya)

The truest masters of their craft never stop learning, and sushi chef Jun Matsumoto perhaps embodies this best. After opening his own restaurant in 2007 at just the age of 27 — unthinkably young for a sushi chef — and doing business for a few years, the largely self-taught Chef Matsumoto closed his restaurant’s doors in 2016 and moved to Kanazawa to further his training. This journey took him to Komatsu Yasuke, one of the most renowned sushi restaurants in Japan, where he honed his craft in a month-long apprenticeship, among other masters of the craft. Even after resuming business at his own restaurant, Chef Matsumoto still hungers — both for good food, and to further improve his sushi. On off-peak periods, he continues to visit not just other sushi restaurants, but also French and other Asian restaurants, in hopes of incorporating culinary techniques into his own preparation. And he has done so to great success. His most famous invention so far, a summer highlight, is a South Asian-inspired abalone dish prepared with cumin, imbuing the shellfish with a fragrance that simply cannot be found in traditional nigiri. Not far behind is a French-style sweetfish (ayu) rillette spread over baguette, whose notes of mirin and soy sauce help it remain distinctively Japanese.