Kōyō – Nice's new sushi counter behind an old tattoo parlour

On a quiet street a few paces from Avenue Jean-Médecin, Kōyō opened inside what was once a tattoo parlour; its cut-stone walls now wrap around a pale-wood sushi counter seating ten to twelve guests. Kōyō is Selected in the MICHELIN Guide, swift recognition for chef Naoki Shizuka, a French-Japanese cook with Okinawan roots and the son of the founder of Benkay, once the finest Japanese restaurant in Paris. There is no printed menu here: the chef reads the day's market and builds an omakase around whatever arrives at its best – nigiri served on three types of rice, Mediterranean fish, prawns poached in a court-bouillon with lime and ginger blossom, and ikura. Diners sit directly across the counter from him, close enough to watch the knife work and ask what they are eating.

01The room and the setting

Before Kōyō, the address on rue Emma-et-Philippe-Tiranty was a tattoo studio; little of that past shows beyond the bones of the building, its rough-cut stone now set against a counter of pale wood where ten to twelve guests share a single service. There is no dining room beyond the counter itself – guests face the chef directly, with cutlery, conversation and the next course all within reach.

02The chef

Naoki Shizuka is a French-Japanese chef with Okinawan roots, the son of the man who founded Benkay, once considered the finest Japanese restaurant in Paris. He arrives in Nice after a spell near Saint-Émilion, carrying the same precision and absolute respect for product and season that give the restaurant its name: Kōyō, the Japanese word for the burnished reds and golds of autumn foliage. At the counter he works alongside his assistant Geneviève, who helps guide guests through each stage of the omakase as it is served.

Insider tip

Dinner only, Wednesday to Sunday; book directly through the restaurant's website.

03The cooking

Kōyō's cooking turns on what the sea and the season allow on a given day, built around sushi and the chef's own reading of the market rather than a fixed card. Tuna, salmon, sea bream and other fish are chosen with exacting care, while the wagyu and kobe beef are flown in directly from Japan. Nigiri, sashimi, sushi and rolls follow in careful sequence, occasionally touched with shavings of truffle or caviar. The MICHELIN Guide also singles out prawns poached in a court-bouillon with lime and ginger blossom, finished with ikura, and nigiri served on three distinct types of rice. For wine, the chef leans on the D-Vine system, giving guests a wide choice of good vintages by the glass, each served at the right temperature.

04What to order

Rather than choosing dishes, guests choose a length of evening. Okite iru, meaning awakening, is a five-step introduction at €72, seated from 6pm over about an hour. Komiageru, a six-step exploration, runs to €96 from 7.30pm over roughly 75 minutes. The kitchen occasionally adds a one-off evening built entirely around wagyu and caviar, served free-flowing at the counter rather than in set courses, for a small number of guests on a chosen date.

05The neighbourhood and booking

Nice's appetite for Japanese cooking has grown quickly in this part of town: new counters have opened near Place Masséna and on boulevard Risso in the same season that Kōyō settled onto the discreet rue Tiranty, two steps from Avenue Jean-Médecin. Kōyō serves dinner only, Wednesday to Sunday, with the four timed seatings booked directly through its own website.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.