Japan's School-Turned-Restaurant Featured

Auberge Eaufeu is housed in the former Nishio Elementary School in Ishikawa Prefecture, which closed its doors in 2018 due to population decline in the surrounding area. The transformation into a dining destination was completed in July 2022, a project backed by the Osaka-based development company Super Projet. The restaurant's name, meaning "water and fire" in French, reflects its culinary approach. Head chef Shota Itoi, winner of a major Japanese culinary competition, combines French cooking techniques with almost exclusively local ingredients from the Hokuriku region. The menu showcases ingredients foraged from the nearby mountains and locally sourced game, seafood, and even lamb raised in Hakusan. Dishes are inventive, such as a signature "eaufeu maki" with fillings that change seasonally and a tomato pie featuring produce from a local farm that also supplies a three-star restaurant in Tokyo. The location is no coincidence; the area is renowned for its pristine water that flows from Mount Hakusan, considered ideal for sake production. Just a five-minute walk from the restaurant is the Noguchi Naohiko Sake Institute, run by a legendary master brewer, whose sake is featured on the restaurant's menu. The conversion of the school involved a complete interior makeover, with former classrooms transformed into modern guest rooms featuring contemporary art. The main dining room is located in what used to be the principal's office, incorporating local *nikkaseki* stone, a volcanic tuff also used in Japan's National Diet Building. This project is part of a larger trend in Japan of repurposing abandoned schools as the nation grapples with a declining population. Other former schools across the country have been converted into community centers, hotels, and restaurants specializing in local cuisine, preserving the buildings while creating new economic opportunities.