A place where people gather from all over the world.
“Where people coexist with environment.” Creating its own shape with traditions, thoughts of local people & blessing of their particular nature. Our goal is to create a place where our guests would come back repeatedly thinking of us including kitchen crew, restaurant staff, wedding coordinators and staff in the office. And if our place can help make the world enrich & happier, we’d be grateful.
THE GARDEN PLACE SOSHUEN
Time we spend as natural as possible.
In 1934 (Showa era 9th year), Mikage in Kobe. A second residence was build here by a former conglomerate. It was a very luxurious and traditional three-story mansion. 1955 (Showa era 21st year), the new owner of this place started a restaurant. There were streams, trees, plants and flowers throughout four seasons as "Human Temple (the paradise of earth)" in Suzhou in China. Hence he named it "The Garden Place Soshuen (garden of Suzhou)".
Intellectual people gathered and created a refined culture among bountiful nature. Soshuen has the same atmosphere & nature which make people feel comfortable and stimulate senses.
Instead of decorating unnecessary, keeping the scenery and building as is, bringing out the best of ingredients, enjoying the time of gathering thinking of those precious people. Our guests should enjoy the time here as we provide heartfelt hospitality.
Aged wooden structure over 80 years.
The building was built 80 years ago adding East Asian features to traditional Japanese structure. It is said that no one can built the same building as it was built with no nails. Those structure is called "Kumiko Tsukuri". As it used to welcome rich & famous of Kobe with ultimate hospitality, it's still welcoming guests.
The garden with over 500 kinds of trees & flowers.
In the garden, there are trees, plants, flowers and a forest in the back of lawn. These trees were luckily never replanted for 80 years protected by the weather of Mikage. Our food tastes better as you enjoy the garden with lights at night, snow in winter & all four seasons with cherry, azalea blossoms and autum leaves.
Thoughtful hospitality by people's hands.
We provide thoughtful hospitality. There's no handle outside of our front door as our original owner welcomed his guests opening the door for his guests. We kept the building as it used to be as much as possible even though that means there's no elevator because we believe the staircases have its own charms.
Anticipate, Be Aware, Act.
Although we have an agreement, we do not make manuals because we believe that hospitality for each guest is never the same and should be treated as once in a life time. We don't provide service by the book because we provide the same hospitality as if we invite them at our own house.
Educate our staff on preciousness of food.
All staff at Soshuen learns the blessing of the nature through visiting farmers and fisheries. Each & every staff provide service understanding how those ingredients come to the table & how precious they are.
Reassurance comes from the best purveyors.
We always look for the best ingredients so that our guests feel confident and enjoy the meals for special occasions.
