From Tuscany to Japan: in Florence, the tea ritual meets Yoji Tokuyoshi’s fine dining
What happens when Tuscan cantucci meet Japanese matcha? And when two chefs, shaped by different culinary traditions, decide to build a menu together?
In Florence, on the hills that surround the historic center, Collegio alla Querce, Auberge Collection opens a new chapter of its food and drink offering with INCONTRI (Italian for “encounters”), a project that puts Tuscany and Japan in conversation through two experiences: the afternoon tea ritual and a chef’s dinner.
The first takes shape in the Conservatorio, with a matcha collaboration developed together with Lilu Matcha, the brand founded by Japanese chef Yoji Tokuyoshi and entrepreneur Alice Yamada. The second is scheduled for December 11 at La Gamella restaurant, where Tokuyoshi will cook alongside chef Nicola Zamperetti.
Two occasions to explore the affinities between seemingly distant food cultures, united by their attention to raw ingredients, to technique and to the rituals of conviviality.
At the Conservatorio, an Afternoon Tea between Tuscany and Japan
Afternoon Tea is already one of the fixtures of the food and drink offering at the Conservatorio, the space at Collegio alla Querce devoted to social life and gatherings.
Here the British ritual of afternoon tea is interpreted through a selection of fine teas, savory bites and pastry creations, to be enjoyed in a bright, intimate setting.
Starting October 21, 2026, the experience grows richer with a new selection devoted to matcha, developed in collaboration with Lilu Matcha.
The Japanese green tea takes center stage in drinks and sweets, entering into dialogue with some of the most recognizable recipes of the Tuscan tradition.
The highlights include matcha cantucci, the Tuscan almond biscuits, created especially for this collaboration. A curious meeting between a sweet deeply tied to Tuscany and an ingredient that holds an important place in Japanese tea culture.
But the experience doesn’t end with the tasting.
The new Afternoon Tea also includes matcha whisked right at the table, letting guests watch the gestures and tools that go with this ritual.
A way to get to know a tradition in which preparing the drink carries a meaning that goes beyond taste, through attention to movement, timing and the quality of the ingredients.
Lilu Matcha: from Japan to Florence, by way of Kyoto
Behind the collaboration is Lilu Matcha, a project born from the professional partnership between Yoji Tokuyoshi and Alice Yamada.
The brand is part of the Kazoku group, which the two founded in 2022, and it was created to bring to Italy a matcha tied directly to the Japanese places and practices of production.
The tea comes from Wazuka, in the Uji area, near Kyoto, historically one of the most important regions in Japan for growing quality tea.
Production is in the hands of a family of growers now in its fourth generation, who follow the entire process: from shading the plants to picking the leaves, all the way to stone grinding.
The Kazoku group imports the product into Italy with no middlemen, paying close attention to traceability and to preserving its qualities.
A supply chain that shows how much work and how much knowledge lie behind a cup of matcha.
The collaboration with Collegio alla Querce brings this culture into a dining experience designed for Florentines, pairing the traditional British Afternoon Tea with a new journey through Japanese flavors.
On December 11, a four-hands dinner with Nicola Zamperetti and Yoji Tokuyoshi
The second INCONTRI event moves from tea to chef-driven cuisine.
On Friday, December 11, 2026, La Gamella restaurant will host a four-hands dinner starring Nicola Zamperetti, the restaurant’s chef, and Yoji Tokuyoshi.
For the occasion the two will create a menu designed especially for the evening, bringing their respective experience and culinary sensibilities face to face.
On one side, Zamperetti will bring his knowledge of Tuscan ingredients and traditions. On the other, Tokuyoshi will offer an approach shaped by long experience in Italian kitchens and a constant relationship with Japanese food culture.
The evening promises to be especially interesting precisely because of this double perspective: two chefs who share a focus on the quality of ingredients, but who arrive at a dish along different paths.
The evening’s menu has not yet been announced in detail, but the project follows on from the cultural and culinary journey that began at the Conservatorio.
Who is Yoji Tokuyoshi, the Japanese chef who came of age in Italy’s great kitchens
Born in 1977 in Tottori, Japan, Yoji Tokuyoshi built a key part of his career in Italy.
After his first jobs in Italian restaurants in Tokyo, he moved to Italy and in 2006 joined the brigade of Osteria Francescana in Modena, where he worked for more than ten years alongside Massimo Bottura, rising to sous chef.
In 2015 he opened his own restaurant in Milan, which earned one Michelin star, and in 2019 he launched Alter Ego in Tokyo, devoted to Italian cuisine.
In the years that followed he developed new food projects, including Bentoteca, born during the pandemic as a takeout concept and later turned into a restaurant.
In 2022, together with Alice Yamada, he founded the Kazoku group, which gave rise to ventures such as Katsusanderia, PAN and Lilu Matcha.
His career tells of a particularly interesting relationship between Italy and Japan: two culinary traditions that Tokuyoshi knows from the inside and keeps bringing together through different projects.
The Florentine dinner with Nicola Zamperetti is therefore a chance to find this vision again, in a direct exchange with Tuscan cooking.
Collegio alla Querce, a new address for food experiences in Florence
Hosting the project is Collegio alla Querce, an Auberge Collection property created from a former school on the hills of Florence.
The property keeps its bond with its own history in its name and in its spaces, reinterpreting the rooms of the old boarding school through a contemporary take on hospitality.
Alongside the rooms and suites, the property includes several spaces devoted to food and conviviality.
La Gamella restaurant serves Italian fine dining, while the Conservatorio is conceived as a meeting place, with an offering that also includes afternoon tea.
INCONTRI fits into this identity, choosing to use food to tell the story of places, traditions and people.
The most interesting thing about the project is precisely the continuity between the two experiences: from the gesture of preparing a cup of matcha to building a four-hands menu, the dialogue between Tuscany and Japan takes different forms, while keeping food culture at its heart.
For Florence, it is one more chance to discover how hotel hospitality can open up to cultural and culinary offerings that also draw in the people who live in the city.
