Top Chef Selection ~Pioneers~
Roppongi: 'Kappō Ikkon'
COOKING INGREDIENTS
Top Chef Selection ~Pioneers~
The Chef of Kappō Ikkon, Roppongi
The Chef of Kappō Ikkon, Roppongi
Comments
Every day, I feel grateful for our ingredients and for the producers who grow them. I sometimes travel to the production sites myself. My challenge is how to convey to our guests what the producers want to communicate — how to weave the producers' feelings into the story behind the dishes I make, so that our guests can enjoy them. I'd like people to savor that 'once-in-a-lifetime encounter between people and ingredients' (ichigo ichie).
Signature Dish
Signature Dish
Jade-simmered eggplant with beef jibu-ni, topped with an aromatic sesame sauce
For the eggplant, we poke a hole through the center of the flesh with chopsticks so the oil can reac…
DETAIL
Shark fin and fish-paste dumpling, rolled in yuba — crab-and-chrysanthemum thin kuzu sauce, saimaki prawn, carrot, ginkgo-leaf cut, wood ear mushroom
When boiling the chrysanthemum petals, we add a very small amount of vinegar to stop discoloration a…
DETAIL
Restaurant information
Restaurant information
The restaurant seats about 20 in total. In addition to three private rooms, it also offers eight counter seats where the pale, unfinished wood (shiraki) stands out beautifully. Depending on room size, the private rooms can accommodate anywhere from 2 to 12 guests.
〒106-0032
3-13-3 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Annex Building, 1F
TEL: 03-5772-8060
Hours: 18:00–23:00
(L.O. 22:30; drink L.O. 22:45)
Closed: Sundays, public holidays, and the New Year holiday period
Want to check the seasoning blend before you cook?
COMMENT
Get off at Roppongi Station on the subway and head toward Kasumigaseki along Roppongi-dōri. Past the Roppongi intersection, turn right at the corner and a shopfront with a black board fence comes into view — this is 'Kappō Ikkon.' Executive head chef Kanoto first cooked as a child, which led him to work at a French restaurant while still in high school; he then trained at Japanese restaurants and other establishments before going independent at age 26. In 2005, he opened 'Kappō Ikkon' as a referral-only membership restaurant, which today is a thriving establishment with 1,800 members. Kanoto also holds cooking classes at the restaurant twice a month, in addition to a wide range of activities including on-site visits to producers and appearances as a Japanese cuisine chef at restaurant events overseas.