Since 1985, when Katsuko Nanao opened her restaurant Nanao, she's been putting her unique stamp on kaiseki, Japan's most formal cooking style. A self-taught chef with an all-female staff, Nanao bucks tradition—and her unorthodox food—sole sashimi with shreds of mountain yam, delicate fried mushrooms with gingko nuts—is what happens when home cooking meets kaiseki. It's a breath of fresh air.