KEI Collection PARIS

Reaching KEI Collection PARIS requires some navigation – three separate elevators carry guests from ground level at Toranomon Hills Station Tower’s, up to the 49th-floor dining room inside Tokyo Node – but the payoff is immediate.

Double-vaulted ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows frame panoramic views of the city lights below. The à la carte format invites guests to compose their own experience, beginning with seasonal small plates like grilled hamaguri clams in garlic butter with aosa seaweed and fennel, or sea bream carpaccio with citrus and chili aioli. Signatures include decadent waffles topped with caviar and sour cream salmon spread, while mains range from roasted lobster with spicy Americaine sauce to Yonezawa wagyu sirloin aged 160 days.

The cellar holds around 400 selections, with French wines comprising roughly 70 percent of the list. Burgundy anchors the collection, a deliberate choice that reflects chef Kei Kobayashi’s philosophy and the sommelier team’s commitment to wines that complement his cuisine while standing beautifully on their own. The remaining bottles span other European regions, the New World and, notably, Japan, which accounts for about 10 percent of the list. Head sommelier Daiki Kakiuchi’s selection philosophy mirrors the kitchen’s approach to ingredients: wines are chosen for their clarity of expression, with an emphasis on distinct varietal character and terroir. The Burgundy collection includes allocations from highly sought-after domaines, while the Bordeaux section focuses on mature vintages dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.

The Japanese selections deserve particular mention. Chef Kobayashi’s deep respect for Japanese ingredients extends to the country’s wines, and the sommelier team has personally visited producers in Yamanashi, Nagano, and Yamagata to curate this portion of the list.