FARO
“One star, a Green Star and Tokyo's best vegan tasting inside the Shiseido building. Book it for guests who eat differently.”
About FARO
Kotaro Noda cooked in Italy for two decades and earned a Michelin star in Rome before Shiseido brought him home in October 2018 to relaunch FARO, the company's flagship restaurant on the tenth floor of its Ginza 8 chome building. The 2026 Tokyo guide marks his sixth consecutive year at one star and a fifth Green Star, and the room has become something rarer than another starred Italian: proof that a vegan tasting menu can anchor a serious Ginza address.
The vegan program is the headline and the bargain. Lunch courses start around ¥8,000 and dinner runs roughly ¥12,000 to ¥15,000, absurd figures for cooking at this level in this postcode, and the plates never read as subtraction: pasta reframed around vegetables at their peak, dashi logic inside Italian form, desserts from pastry chef Mineko Kato that convert skeptics on their own. Conventional Italian tastings run alongside for tables that want both worlds.
The tenth floor room does quiet luxury the Shiseido way: white curves, wide windows over Ginza rooftops, service polished to hotel standard without hotel stiffness. Booking runs through the restaurant's site and standard platforms at a difficulty far below the neighborhood's counters, which makes FARO the rare page in this guide you can act on this week. For mixed tables of vegans and omnivores, it is the single most useful reservation in Ginza.
The Room
A white, curved, light filled dining room on the Shiseido building's tenth floor, windows running over Ginza's rooftops. Tables are spaced for conversation and the service carries corporate flagship polish with genuine warmth underneath. Dress smart casual or better; the address pulls a well dressed crowd. Window tables at lunch get the best light in the district.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
A table this hard to win should be spent on the right night. This is who should book FARO, and when.
For the birthday where one guest is vegan and nobody compromises
Mixed tables sink most fine dining plans: someone always eats the garnish while others feast. FARO runs full vegan and full Italian tastings side by side at the same table, so the vegan guest gets the kitchen's flagship work, not an accommodation. Dinner at ¥12,000 to ¥15,000 for the vegan course keeps a group celebration sane, and Mineko Kato's desserts give the birthday its finale. Flag the occasion and the split of menus when booking.
For a first date that signals taste without terror
A tenth floor Ginza room with windows, a bookable table this week and a lunch that starts around ¥8,000: FARO removes every excuse while keeping every signal. The vegan card reads adventurous rather than austere, which makes it a conversation in itself, and the Italian card catches anyone unconvinced. Take lunch by the windows for a first meeting; the light is famous, the exit is graceful, and the upgrade path to dinner is obvious if it goes well.
For the sustainability slide made edible
When the client's deck has an ESG section, dinner should not be a tomahawk steak. A Green Star kitchen inside Shiseido's flagship, holding one star for six straight years while pioneering vegan fine dining, lets you entertain on message without preaching: the food is simply excellent and the story tells itself. Book a window table at dinner, order across both menus so the table compares notes, and let the Kato dessert close the pitch.
What to order
Two parallel menus and one famous pastry section: the calls are which card, which floor of the wine list and where you sit.
- The vegan tasting, even as an omnivore
This is the kitchen's research division and its point of pride. Order it at least once; the pasta courses will recalibrate what you think the word vegan buys.
- Mineko Kato's desserts
The pastry section is a destination in its own right. Whatever the seasonal finale is, do not truncate the meal before it.
- Lunch by the windows
From about ¥8,000, it is Ginza's best entry ticket to a starred kitchen. Request the window row when booking.
- A split table order
One vegan course, one Italian, and trade tastes. It is the full argument of the house in a single sitting.
Practical
- Address
- Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building 10F, Ginza 8 chome, Chuo
- Reservations
- Official site and standard platforms · days out, not months
- Menus
- Vegan lunch from about ¥8,000 · vegan dinner ¥12,000 to ¥15,000
- Also
- Conventional Italian tastings alongside
- Service
- 10 percent service charge added
- Dress
- Smart casual or better
- Dietary
- Vegan by design · allergies with notice
- Station
- Shimbashi or Ginza, short walk
Questions diners ask
Is FARO worth it?
Emphatically, and it is the rare starred Ginza room that is also a bargain. One Michelin star six years running, a Green Star, and a vegan tasting from about ¥8,000 at lunch inside Shiseido's flagship building. The Value score of nine is the arithmetic, not enthusiasm.
Is FARO fully vegan?
No, and that is the design. FARO runs an acclaimed vegan tasting alongside a conventional Italian tasting, served at the same table, so mixed parties both eat the kitchen's best work. The vegan card is the more famous of the two and treated as the house's flagship research.
How hard is it to book FARO?
Refreshingly easy for the neighborhood. Tables release through the restaurant's site and standard booking platforms with days of notice rather than months, window seats and Friday dinners going first. It is the most actionable reservation on this level in Ginza.
What does FARO cost?
Vegan courses run from about ¥8,000 at lunch and ¥12,000 to ¥15,000 at dinner, with conventional Italian tastings priced above and a 10 percent service charge added. With a pairing, most dinners land between ¥20,000 and ¥35,000 a head, modest for a starred tenth floor in Ginza.