Auberge Homachi Mikuni Minato

Nine old townhouses on a portside fishing town have been stitched together into a small, intimate hotel, with interiors that lean modern Japanese while the kitchen leans unmistakably French. Celebrity chef Tateru Yoshino, a veteran of Japan's top French tables, applies classical technique to Fukui seafood. The place manages to feel both genuinely local and quietly European, which is a harder trick than it sounds.