Shishi-Iwa House Chef’s Retreat 2025: “a beautiful reminder of why we cook”
Shishi-Iwa House’s annual chefs’ retreat is not a tradeshow or publicity exercise. Over four days in early October, six chefs from across the world gathered in Karuizawa—not to perform, but to pause. There were no ticketed dinners or staged demonstrations; only a space to cook, connect, and reset.
Now in its third year, the retreat brought together Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama (Chicago), Kwang Uh and Mina Park of Baroo (Los Angeles), David Lai of Neighborhood (Hong Kong), and Kyumin Hahn of Kadeau (Copenhagen and Bornholm), as well as their families. This year, Tatler Asia joined the Shishi-Iwa House chefs’ retreat as its exclusive media guest. Instead of an agenda packed with appearances, the programme favoured slow, open exchange: organic farm visits, local meals, forest walks and finally, a joint dinner inspired by the days spent together.
The Shishi-Iwa House intention: between land and table
An energising morning walk to the majestic Sengataki Falls
Chef Kwang Uh with his son, Taehoon, on the way down from the Sengataki Falls
An energising morning walk to the majestic Sengataki Falls
Just an hour by train from Tokyo, Karuizawa has long been a place of retreat. “Karuizawa felt like a place that breathes differently,” observed Hahn, a Canada-born, California-raised chef who now calls Copenhagen home. “There’s a stillness in the air that invites slowness—not in a passive way, but in a deeply intentional one.” For Huy Hoang, founder of Shishi-Iwa House (Tatler Best 100 Hotels Asia-Pacific 2025 Award Winner), the serene town answered both a practical and a philosophical need: to build a place for his family and eventually, open itself as a retreat for creative regeneration.
Formerly at the helm of an asset management firm, Hoang originally set out to build a holiday home. “The initial thought was to build a villa for us, a place for the family to connect,” Hoang revealed. When they realised the house would be unused most of the year, they decided to rent it out for public use. This, however, required a hotel license. “Once we got the hotel license, we had to organise and operate as a hotel,” Hoang explained. And thus, Shishi-Iwa House was born.
At the peak of autumn, Shishi-Iwa House is enveloped by leaves of crimson red
David Lai, formerly a student of fine arts and art history, quietly admiring the works on display at Shishi-Iwa House
What began as a personal sanctuary gradually became an experiment in how architecture and landscape might nurture creativity. Today, Shishi-Iwa House comprises three properties (with more in the works), each conceived by a Pritzker Prize laureate: Houses No. 01 and No. 02 by Shigeru Ban, and No. 03 by Ryue Nishizawa. Hoang’s ambition is not expansion for its own sake, but to create a constellation of small sanctuaries where guests can reconnect with place and self.
“It’s become my release valve,” Hoang admitted. “The financial management world is very stressful, and Shishi-Iwa House allows me to get away from that. A lot of people use yoga or meditation to escape their daily routine, others play tennis or exercise. For me, it’s opening this retreat. It allows me to destress.”
At Shishi-Iwa House, Hoang provides that same release for artists—chefs included. “One of the main impetuses of this project is to provide a space for guests to regenerate their creativity,” Hoang details. “The chef’s retreat is important because chefs work very hard. We are providing them with an opportunity to be on holiday, completely private. There’s no pressure with any public dinner; they’re invited to come with their families, spend quality time together, and also to collaborate or meet with other chefs of the same calibre.”
Land
Asama Farmers specialises in growing micro-greens and vegetables in greenhouses, irrigated using mineral water
Asama Farmers specialises in growing micro-greens and vegetables in greenhouses, irrigated using mineral water
Baby carrot and radish from Asama Farmers
Yusuke Iizuka, owner and farmer of Duca Farm, who moonlights as a DJ
Jada Lam and chef Kwang Uh at Duca Farm
Chefs David Lai and Genie Kwon admiring the crops at Duca Farm
Chef Masashi Okamoto introducing Duca Farm owner Yusuke Iizuka to chef Kyumin Hahn of Kadeau
Every year, Shishi-Iwa House tours chefs around local farms that supply Shola: Shishi-Iwa House’s dedicated restaurant run by chef Masashi Okamoto, who also joined our retreat. “Our time at Shishi-Iwa House was an invaluable reminder that as chefs, we are simply messengers between nature and our guests or other people,” shared Park and Uh. The couple left inspired to stay more closely connected to ingredients, even in their urban kitchen. “By seeing the sincere efforts of the farmers we met and spending time on their farms, and seeing how the local chefs approached their local ingredients with such reverence and love, we came away with important lessons about nature.”
At Asama Farmers’ greenhouses, microgreens are irrigated by mineral water from an underground well. We plucked shiso and arugula straight from the soil to taste their intensity. The system of movable planters, devised by owner Hideki Takayama, impressed the chefs with its innovation and efficiency. Run by farmer-by-day, DJ-by-night Yusuke Iizuka, Duca Farm grows over 100 herbs and vegetables, using upcycled mushroom beds, coffee grounds and malt to enrich his soil. Sweet tomatoes, fruity bell peppers and flavour-packed herbs from these visits later found their way into the chefs’ collaboration dinner.
Chef Kyumin Hahn crunching into a fruity yellow bell pepper from Duca Farm
Chef Tim Flores peels a bright red beetroot we plucked from the ground at Duca Farm
Hideyuki Kobayashi of Yamako Kinokoen mushroom farm tells us about his impressive operation
Yamabushitake (lion’s mane) from Yamako Kinokoen mushroom farm
Chef Genie Kwon admiring the maitake at Yamako Kinokoen mushroom farm
Chefs Tim Flores and Kwang Uh at Yamako Kinokoen mushroom farm
Crafting mushroom beds at Yamako Kinokoen mushroom farm
Chef Tim Flores photographs mushrooms at Yamako Kinokoen mushroom farm
“Visiting Duca Farm was highly memorable,” Hahn emphasised. “I was so impressed by the quality of the soil—it was rich, alive and full of character, especially considering it’s based on vegetable-only composting. You could feel how much intention and care had gone into cultivating it. It really reinforced how essential soil health is to flavour—and how great ingredients start from the ground up.”
Our last stop was Yamako Kinokoen mushroom farm, where Hideyuki Kobayashi and his team harvest over 200 kilos of shiitake daily—just one of the twelve mushrooms they cultivate in autumn. Inside the controlled rooms, each set to a different humidity and temperature, the fungi appeared extraterrestrial: snow-white maitake that grew like porcelain corals, the wickedly hairy yamabushitake (lion’s mane), the eye-catching sakura mushrooms that blushed a dainty pink. “The mushrooms were hauntingly beautiful and diverse, almost like living sculptures,” remarked Park and Uh. “That visit has Kwang thinking about experiments in growing mushrooms from bases infused with fermented soybean powder.”
Table
The Crony team drove up Tokyo to Karuizawa to host us at their new restaurant, Vase
A memorable opening bite from our Crony dinner at Vase, Hokkaido: hairy crab tartlet with a sweet and creamy ama ebi centre
Nagano: beautifully marbled Shinshu Wagyu, brilliantly paired with a local Nagano merlot blend by sommelier-owner Kazutaka Ozawa of Crony, Tokyo
Ehima: tuna tartare with caviar, shiso flowers and a broth made from maguro bushi by chef-owner Michihiro Haruta of Crony, Tokyo
Chef Kyumin Hahn and Masashi Okamoto at Vase for the Crony tasting menu
The Crony team drove up Tokyo to Karuizawa to host us at their new restaurant, Vase
While Lai describes the farm visits as “educational and eye-opening,” the Hong Kong-born chef said the “restaurant visits were super generous and thoughtful.” On our first night, we were spoiled with a taste of Crony, a prestigious French fine dining restaurant in Tokyo. Crony’s chef-owner, Michihiro Haruta and sommelier-owner, Kazutaka Ozawa, drove up to host us at Vase, their newly-opened restaurant in Karuizawa.
Crony’s tasting menu was structured like a journey through Japan: from Hokkaido, a mountain of hairy crab meat on a tartlet shell encasing ama ebi, its creamy sweetness unfolding with each bite; from Nagano, Shinshu Wagyu with marbling like a tiger’s stripes, paired with a local merlot blend with soft tannins that melted into the Wagyu’s richness. Haruta’s quiet reverence for provenance formed the throughline of the evening, his cooking both humble and assured.
We were granted a quick tour of the Gio Hills Winery plots before we settled into lunch at Song
A plot of shiraz grapes at Gio Hills Winery, located on the Mimakigahara plateau
A display of pickles and ferments at Song restaurant (photo: Lauren Golangco)
Porcini mushrooms on local grape bread, bathed with smoked egg yolk—the opening bite at Song restaurant (photo: Lauren Golangco)
Anne Küfner, chef Mina Park and chef Kwang Uh attentively listen to the Song team as they present the next dish
A dish from Song: kanten (agar-agar) soaked in tomato consomme served on a bed of sharp “pesto” made with shiso and fermented local vinegar (photo: Lauren Golangco)
Sourdough crafted with peach yeast, plus a delectable smoked whipped butter from Song (photo: Lauren Golangco)
Carp cut honekiri-style, salted and soaked in red wine, then grilled and served with a sauce of leftover wine grapes, from Song restaurant
Chef Kyumin Hahn and his wife, Anna Küfner with their four-year-old daughter, Juli at Song restaurant
Venison served with a sauce of red wine and mushrooms, plus an aged year-old potato from Song restaurant (photo: Lauren Golangco)
Chef Shuhei Tamura and the rest of the Song team bid us a warm farewell as we make the drive back to Shishi-Iwa House
Perched on the Mimakigahara plateau, the ethereal Gio Hills Winery is never without a refreshing breeze. The family-owned estate, led by Hayato Tomioko, crafts low-intervention wines from seven plots. It’s also home to Song: a cosy, 12-seater restaurant designed to evoke the feeling of being welcomed into the winemakers’ home. Upon arrival, the chefs approached the open kitchen to meet head chef Shuhei Tamura—he was visibly sweating bullets, tending to the wood-fired oven, but his enthusiasm never faded.
Tamura’s cuisine captivated us from the very first bite: smoked egg yolk poured over porcini mushrooms on bread made with local mountain grapes. Flores and Kwon later highlighted this as the most memorable bite of the trip. “A wonderful start to the meal in the most incredible setting…to have the land and mountains as your view—what a dream,” the pair recounted. The food was rustic yet refined, punctuated by strokes of brilliance: kanten soaked in tomato consommé with shiso “pesto”; year-old potatoes aged at 2°C for depth; and shikabushi, venison cured like katsuobushi then ground into a savoury powder to sprinkle over corn and gohan donabe. What resonated most, however, was the joy with which chef Tamura welcomed us.
At Kuroiwa Muni, chef Kyohei Asai offers a traditional kaiseki guided by the seasons (photo: Lauren Golangco)
At Kuroiwa Muni, chef Kyohei Asai offers a traditional kaiseki guided by the seasons (photo: Lauren Golangco)
Tai sashimi and sanma roll with sanma liver from Kuroiwa Muni, served with umeboshi vinegar (photo: Lauren Golangco)
Pregnant Ayu served with its fried bones and head, plus a sweet, jammy fig at Kuroiwa Muni (photo: Lauren Golangco)
Unagi, dried overnight, grilled and served simply over steaming hot rice at Kuroiwa Muni (photo: Lauren Golangco)
The cheerful chef Kyohei Asai of Kuroiwa Muni (photo: Lauren Golangco)
On the night of the mid-autumn festival, chef Kyohei Asai hosted us at his restaurant, Kuroiwa Muni. Here, Asai offers a traditional kaiseki guided by the seasons, visible through panoramic windows that soon would frame the fiery reds of autumn. Seated at the counter, we watched Asai’s graceful rhythm unfold. Spanning preparations elegantly simple to artfully complex, the kaiseki was accompanied by a sake tasting curated by Shishi-Iwa House.
Asai’s delicate tai sashimi and oily sanma liver roll with umeboshi vinegar captured his flair for daring contrasts. Pregnant ayu, glazed in miso and grilled, arrived with fried bones and head, alongside a sweet fig. “Ayu okay?” quipped the cheerful chef, an inside joke that later reappeared at the collaboration dinner. The crackling sizzle that erupted from the unagi as chef Asai twisted out the metal skewers from the eel is a sound I won’t soon forget. Dried overnight to produce skin with a delicate crunch, the unagi was served in two parts: one leaner piece with a soft and fluffy centre, another much fattier and richer for a decadent bite. Before we left, Asai handed us bamboo-wrapped onigiri to savour for breakfast. “So you remember me,” he said with a grin.
The collaboration dinner
With just a few hours to go, the chefs gather around the table to discuss their collaboration dinner menu
With just a few hours to go, the chefs gather around the table to discuss their collaboration dinner menu
With just a few hours to go, the chefs gather around the table to discuss their collaboration dinner menu
A bountiful display of ingredients for the chefs to use
After immersive visits to farms and restaurants, the chefs were teeming with inspiration. They gathered at Shola, where a table of pristine ingredients awaited: half a venison, Sanadamaru chicken, sea urchin, sujiko, Karuizawa apples, and produce from Asama Farmers, Duca Farms and Yamako Kinokoen, to name a few. The scene buzzed with energy, but free from pressure—only curiosity and camaraderie.
With just five hours until the collaboration dinner, the chefs huddled with Okamoto to plan the menu. It was clear that they were not only familiar with one another’s cuisine but deeply respectful of each other’s craft. “You can do your salmon,” Lai joked to Hahn, alluding to Kadeau’s famous twice-smoked salmon, which takes a week to prepare. “It would be the fastest one ever,” Hahn replied, as Kwon chimed that the dish was “one of the best interpretations of salmon ever.” Ideas flew off the rails, laughter punctuating every exchange. Finally, Kwon recentered the group with a gentle nudge: “Okay, so… dish number one?”
Chef David Lai breaks down his venison
Chef Masashi Okamoto lends chef Kwang Uh his carbon donabe pot for his bibimbap
Chefs Tim Flores and Kyumin Hahn working in tandem
Chef Mina Park lends a hand for chef Kwang Uh’s bibimbap
Chef Masashi Okamoto moulds his venison leg tsukune
Chef Kwang Uh sweats out the vegetables for his bibimbap and trash sauce
Chef Genie Kwon preparing her apple galette
Wagyu-wrapped matsutake mushrooms grilled over charcoal
Ayu OK? Tempura on the pass
Bowls of chicken and mushroom arroz caldo
Laid over a bed of veggies, the venison was bathed in a sauce of red wine and venison jus
Chefs Tim Flores and Genie Kwon ready to serve the apple galette
Together, they built a menu that reflected both their distinct culinary voices and the collective rhythm they’d found together. First, a cold starter of sweet Duca Farm tomatoes with raw and creamy botan ebi, a spot of cream for indulgence and chopped walnuts from the tree at Asama Farmers that had enamoured Hahn since our visit. Hahn and Flores followed with a duet off the grill: Akagi Wagyu skewers with matsutake mushrooms, dripping with umami juices, and smoky okra served cold as a palate cleanser, seasoned with bonito, nori and citrus powder. Working with the Shishi-Iwa house team to construct the evening’s beverages, this course was paired with a smooth whisky highball to echo the charred, smoky notes.
Duca Farm tomatoes, cream and botan ebi from the collaboration dinner
A duet of Wagyu-wrapped matsutake and chilled okra, paired with a whisky highball from the collaboration dinner
“Ayu OK? Tempura”, a callback to Kuroiwa Muni, was served on burnt broccoli rabe purée with pickled cucumber and sudachi citrus on a broccoli rabe leaf, folded like a taco. Okamoto’s masterstroke lent immense depth: salt flavoured with the liver of the ayu fish. “It was truly special, something we hadn’t seen before,” said Flores and Kwon.
Flores’ bowl of arroz caldo, made with local chicken, maitake mushrooms, spring onions, mustard greens, ginger and citric acid powder in place of calamansi, offered welcome warmth that chilly evening. Its nostalgic aroma filled the room, inspiring guests to share memories of comfort.
Chicken and mushroom arroz caldo from the collaboration dinner
Vegetable and mushroom bibimbap with “trash sauce” from the collaboration dinner
As we slurped the last of our arroz caldo, Uh quietly brought out his vegetable and mushroom bibimbap. Conscious that two rice dishes were coming back-to-back, he gave us the option to skip his course entirely—an offer none of us took. The magic of his bibimbap lay in the unglamorously named “trash sauce”, created with fresh uni, shiso, perilla, leftover vegetables and a jar of fermented chilli paste that Okamoto had been working on. Used here in place of gochujang, it struck a balance of creaminess, umami, earthiness and heat. We pleaded to have the tantalising paste bottled and sold, and many of us even enjoyed it with the following course.
Venison rib and venison leg tsukune on a bed of local vegetables from the collaboration dinner
Karuizawa apple galette, local brie and local honey from the collaboration dinner
Lai followed with a show-stopping arrangement: chestnuts, pumpkin, apple, pear and grapes braised in venison jus, served with his venison rib cooked perfectly rare and Okamoto’s juicy venison leg tsukune with sansho sabayon. “So much about Shola and Shishi-Iwa House is about relationships between the lodge and its surroundings,” explained Lai, who studied fine arts and art history prior to his culinary career. “In my dish, I tried to incorporate my impression of colours and senses of autumn forest in Karuizawa, using ingredients foraged, farmed and hunted locally.”
The chefs toast to the start of the collaboration dinner with Shishi-Iwa House founder Huy Hoang
Chef Tim Flores presenting his chicken and mushroom arroz caldo
The chefs finally settle into their seats after a thrilling night of service
Chefs Masashi Okamoto, Tim Flores, Genie Kwon, David Lai, Mina Park and Kyumin Hahn after the collaboration dinner
Considering the kitchen’s compact size, the chefs initially agreed to have shifts in the kitchen. Yet try as you might, you could not get them out of there. They’d much rather be shoulder to shoulder in the heat, hunched over to help plate each other’s dishes. They enjoyed bites between service, swigged wine straight from the bottle, their laughter erupting from the kitchen. Outisde, we had comfortable seats, wine glasses and cutlery, but it was clear that the kitchen was where the party was. Finally, they took their seats at the table to join us, and Kwon served slices of her apple galette made with Karuizawa apples, plus local brie and honey—a classy pairing for such a classic dessert. With a golden-brown topping of raw sugar and a buttery crust that melted into delicate flakes, it was the perfect after-service reward for the chefs.
“My favourite part of the retreat was the collaboration, cooking alongside other chefs without the stress of service or an audience,” Hahn reflected. “There was a genuine sense of curiosity and generosity. No ego, just hanging out, cooking and having a good time.” Park and Uh echoed this: “To us, that day and dinner felt close to the true reason we cook. Cooking is for sharing and caring for others. Without the concerns of cooking at volume, the public scrutiny, we felt like we were cooking for family.”
The soul of Shishi-Iwa House
Between the farm visits, meals at local restaurants and collaboration dinner, there was no shortage of things to love about the retreat—yet much of what made it special were the moments in between. It was in the honest conversations about how organic farmers are shunned by the supply chain, or how to maintain fair wages for restaurant staff amid a fragile economy. It was in the unfiltered exchanges about customer behaviour, burnout, and the pressures that come with global recognition.
The lighthearted moments were just as precious: the morning hike up to the majestic Sengataki Waterfall; Hahn’s four-year-old daughter, Juli, running freely through Gio Hills with her new friend Taehoon, son of Park and Uh; and the laughter-filled story of Flores and Kwon meeting Ayo Edebiri and the cast of The Bear—including one particularly hunky co-star who’s made it all but impossible for Lai to buy his favourite white tee (he’s since launched his own via Neighborhood). It was these candid snippets—born through true, unhurried connection, not fabricated for sale or public display—that the soul of Shishi-Iwa House revealed itself.
As is tradition, the fourth day of the retreat is exclusively for the chefs and their families—together, they enjoyed a scenic hike up the Ko-Asama Trail
As is tradition, the fourth day of the retreat is exclusively for the chefs and their families—together, they enjoyed a scenic hike up the Ko-Asama Trail
The chefs were invited along with their families, allowing them to enjoy genuine quality time, and for new friendships to form, even among the little travellers
Huy Hoang, David Lai and Jada Lam, wife to Lai
Shishi-Iwa House founder Huy Hoang in conversation with chefs Genie Kwon and Tim Flores of Kasama in Chicago
As is tradition, the fourth day of the retreat is exclusively for the chefs and their families—chef Masashi Okamoto hosted them at Shola, granting them a taste of his French-Japanese cuisine
As is tradition, the fourth day of the retreat is exclusively for the chefs and their families—chef Masashi Okamoto hosted them at Shola, granting them a taste of his French-Japanese cuisine
As is tradition, the fourth day of the retreat is exclusively for the chefs and their families—chef Masashi Okamoto hosted them at Shola, granting them a taste of his French-Japanese cuisine
This intention is embedded not just in the programme, but in the architecture itself. Shishi-Iwa House is boldly minimal, each detail designed to invite pause and connection. There are no TVs, the typical espresso pod machine is swapped for a calming pourover set-up, and the communal spaces are primed to turn strangers into friends. “Looking at the architecture of Shishi-Iwa House, you can see how beauty and complexity exist within simplicity, and how a constraint can often spark creativity,” commented Flores and Kwon. Both seasoned in fine dining, the husband-and-wife team opened Kasama in 2020, which became the first Filipino restaurant to earn a Michelin star in 2022. “The structure is light but strong, and that’s how we like to cook,” they add. “Sometimes the simple things can be the most delicious.”
“A beautiful reminder of why we cook”
Designed as an experiment in collaborative creativity, Shishi-Iwa House’s annual chefs’ retreat explores the intersection between local culture, nature and gastronomy. Its success isn’t measured by tickets sold or media buzz, but by the lasting impressions left on the chefs themselves. As Hoang put it: “Hopefully, when they go back to their own restaurant, there are changes—for the better. They see the world differently, they can be more creative, and last but not least, they’ve created a community of like-minded chefs.”
The results speak for themselves. After meeting at the 2024 retreat, chef Julien Royer of Odette invited chef Vaughan Mabee of Amisfield, New Zealand, for a collaboration in Singapore. This December, Mabee returns to Shishi-Iwa House for an exclusive eight-night residency. Likewise, chef Johanne Siy, an alumna of the first retreat, joined this year’s collaboration dinner as a special guest, reminiscing about the sweet autumn turnips you could easily mistake for a pear. These connections show that the retreat’s true harvest lies in its relationships—between chefs, with the land, and with Shishi-Iwa House itself.
Mina Park, director of operations and owner; and Kwang Uh, executive chef and owner of Baroo in Los Angeles
Kyumin Hahn, head chef and partner at Kadeau, Copenhagen and Bornholm
Tim Flores and Genie Kwon, chefs and owners of Kasama in Chicago
David Lai, chef/owner of Neighborhood in Hong Kong
This year was no different. “The Shishi-Iwa House chef’s retreat was unlike any culinary experience I’ve had before,” Hahn divulged. “It offered a rare pause from the usual rhythm of kitchen life—a chance to be fully present with family, to listen and to connect not just with other chefs, but with the land and the space itself.”
As head chef and partner of a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in one of the world’s most competitive dining scenes, time is his most precious commodity. “It meant so much to be invited to a chef’s retreat where the invitation also extended to my family,” he reflected. “Being able to share a moment like this with close friends and loved ones made the experience even more meaningful. It was a beautiful reminder of why we cook in the first place—to bring people together.