An evening of geisha entertainment often begins with an exquisite meal of kaiseki (Japanese haute-cuisine).

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If staying in a traditional Kyoto inn, a kaiseki dinner is often included in accommodation rates.

BBC: Kaiseki-ryori: Japanese haute cuisine

Perhaps we will be seeing Kyoto's first automated kaiseki (Japanese haute cuisine) restaurant in the near future.

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Lots of little, exotic seasonal tastes add up to a zesty kaiseki feast at Sugiyama .

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While that might sound pretentiously abstract, a kaiseki meal is truly intended to appeal to all of the senses.

BBC: Kaiseki-ryori: Japanese haute cuisine

Kyoto's contemplative bars are somewhat like the small wooden kaiseki restaurants that have made the city famous for its cuisine.

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As each course is finished, it is cleared away for presentation of the next, the kaiseki meal a beautiful procession of contrasting tastes and tactile sensations.

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In 1999, I went to Toyama, Japan, to briefly train with my uncle Yasushi Naoe, who was a kaiseki chef for over 50 years.

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Though the formality of the experience can be intimidating to foreigners, enjoying a kaiseki meal in Kyoto is highly accessible and offers a delicious encounter that can not be exported.

BBC: Kaiseki-ryori: Japanese haute cuisine

More worldly friends will stop off here for dinner in cool Mimasu-ya, reserving tables overlooking the water, or in the sublime French kaiseki restaurant, Misoguigawa, where a girl in kimono sits by your table throughout the meal, making delectable small talk in impeccable English.

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