THE RYOKAN COLLECTION

Innovative kyo-kaiseki restaurant Ioto creates exciting anticipation from the moment guests cross the curtain-draped threshold. A cluster of private rooms created by wood slatted fronts and warm backlit washi paper recreates the feel of slipping through Kyoto’s winding alleyways before emerging at a counter with wide views of the pond in the Japanese garden, where passing koi make the water shiver and dance. Pressing on, one finds the best seats in the house at a theater-style kappo counter where the chefs grill the signature sumibiyaki dishes and the garden view is mirrored by an exquisite bonsai terrarium floating above a maki-e lacquer pond where red-gold fish glide through silver waters.