Thrown together in an unexpected meeting, chef Hiroki Hayakawa and sommelier Yoji Ikemoto immediately hit it off. Both natives of Kyoto, they felt bound by fate through their names, which both refer to bodies of water, so when they opened their restaurant under joint management, they named it ‘Vena’, Italian for ‘waterway’. The chef’s keen eye for ingredients pairs well with the sommelier’s collection of vintage wines. An interweaving of two Kyoto boys, born and bred in the ‘city of water’.