For Niki Nakayama, the art of cooking all comes down to feeling. Always one to follow her intuition, Nakayama’s instinct has guided her path as a chef, and it continues to be the driving force behind every dish she creates with wife and sous chef, Carole Iida-Nakayama, at n/naka, their highly acclaimed restaurant in West Los Angeles. Since opening, Chef Nakayama has secured a place among the foremost chefs in the world of modern kaiseki—a traditional Japanese dining discipline based in gratitude and appreciation, balances taste, texture and presentation through a progression of dishes served in a meticulous, thoughtfully curated order.
Today, n/naka serves as a global destination for modern kaiseki with a California twist, at which Nakayama and Iida-Nakayama serve world-class, artfully curated, and exquisite dishes designed to reflect the mood of season, time, and place.