Michelin-Starred Restaurant Debuts Pastry Concept in Japan SingleThread, the three-Michelin-starred farm-to-table restaurant in Healdsburg, California, has opened SingleThread Entremets at Capella Kyoto—its first dedicated patisserie location. The boutique shop sits just off the hotel lobby in the historic Miyagawa-cho District and marks an expansion of the restaurant's acclaimed pastry program into a standalone retail format. Led by Executive Pastry Chef Emma Horowitz and Chef Miu Morita (formerly of Michelin Three-Star L'Effervescence in Tokyo), the concept offers refined mousse cakes, chocolates, and confections built on classical French technique. The menu features three to four permanent offerings alongside rotating seasonal exclusives, with flavors reflecting both Kyoto and Northern California—from Uji matcha with sakura, lemon thyme and passionfruit to Dandelion chocolate with Hanamaruki shio koji and black sesame. The patisserie's defining feature is a "living display case" designed in collaboration with a Kyoto ikebana artist and SingleThread Co-Owner and Head Farmer Katina Connaughton. Each dessert is presented within an evolving landscape of seasonal flowers, mosses, and greenery that shifts throughout the year.
Philosophy Translated to Pastry Chef Kyle Connaughton, co-owner of SingleThread, explained the concept's foundation: "The experience at SingleThread has always been a conversation—between the seasons, the land, and the people in between. Entremets is a continuation of that same conversation, spoken in a new language. Every element on the menu reflects the same philosophy that has always guided SingleThread, now expressed through pastry." Executive Pastry Chef Emma Horowitz added: "For me, this has always been about an extension of our pastry team and our pastry department at SingleThread. When Chef Kyle and I landed on entremets, it clicked—encapsulating clean execution, built on French technique, genuinely fine dining, but endlessly evolving with the seasons and rooted in the region—whether that's our 24-acre farm in Healdsburg or the growers surrounding our first Entremets location in Kyoto." The Kyoto opening follows SingleThread's March 2026 debut of SoNoMa by SingleThread, its first international restaurant, also in Kyoto. SingleThread Entremets is positioned as the first location of what the group envisions as an expandable patisserie concept rooted in place, seasonality, and craftsmanship.
Why It Matters
The move signals how fine-dining restaurants are extending their brands beyond full-service formats into specialized retail concepts. By opening a standalone patisserie, SingleThread is capturing incremental revenue from hotel guests, locals, and tourists while maintaining its ingredient-driven philosophy at a lower operational complexity than a full restaurant. The "living display case" approach creates a distinctive visual and sensory experience that differentiates the shop in a competitive luxury pastry market and reinforces the brand's commitment to seasonal storytelling.
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Written by FBM Publications Editors
