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Spring greens and firefly squid

We value the green fragrance and refreshing texture of the wild mountain vegetables.

Red sea bream, turnip-steamed and topped with silver sauce

We cut the kuruma prawn into about 5 small pieces, keeping the balance with the other ingredients in mind. For the turnip combined with meringue, the…

Oil-cured Pacific saury, duck cutlet sandwich, monkfish liver in a hollowed yuzu shell, and saikyo-miso-cured monkfish

This is the winter course. The Oil-Cured Pacific Saury is made the way oil-sardines are made, but using saury instead of sardine. Soaking it once in…

• Serves 1 · ¥800

• Cook time 1 hr

Bamboo shoot manjū, baby octopus rice cracker, two-color icefish fritters

This is a deep-fried dish designed with the presentation in mind. The bamboo shoot manjū uses a butterbur-sprout sauce to bring out the "faintly…

• Serves 1 · ¥400

• Cook time 1 hr

Largehead beltfish shin-biki-age, matsutake

This is a deep-fried course in which seasonal ingredients are coated with unconventional coatings such as toasted granulated glutinous-rice coating…

• Serves 1 · ¥495

• Cook time 15 min

Matsutake Confit, Hamo Somen

At sukiyaki restaurants and the like, beef fat inevitably ends up left over. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted me to start thinking about how to use…

• Serves 1 · ¥420

• Cook time 2 hr

Blanched pike conger, fried in batter, matsutake, fig, shuto cheese

The shuto cheese served alongside the fried dish is made by adding sake to bonito shuto to draw out a stock, straining it, then adding egg yolk and…

Pike conger and lotus root, steamed, chrysanthemum, matsutake

When wrapping the lotus root in hamo, brush on kuzu starch firmly with a pastry brush, but take care — depending on how the fine bone-cutting is…

Asari clams and rapeseed blossoms in mustard dressing, with lily bulb

As with the hamaguri clams, the key with asari clams too is not to overcook them, so they finish soft and tender.

Herring and eggplant

Herring and eggplant is a classic summer combination in Kyoto. I finish it thoroughly and carefully, without trying anything gimmicky. In particular…

• Serves 6 · ¥1,000

• Cook time 50 min

Pike conger and matsutake, gently simmered

This is what's known as a 'deai-mono' — a dish pairing two ingredients that come into season together — for autumn. It's a simple dish you often see…

• Serves 4 · ¥5,000

• Cook time 20 min

King crab and lotus root manju, chrysanthemum-cut daikon in sake-lees pickle, millet wheat gluten Dutch-style simmered, bamboo-leaf-cut kabocha

This time, on 'simmered dishes,' I learned from technical director Saito (Nihon Ryōri Kinari). This time I take up 'renkon manju.'

Pike conger stuffed with sea urchin, lightly coated in kudzu starch

For 'Hamo Stuffed with Sea Urchin, Yoshino-Style,' the hamo (pike conger eel) is bone-scored, and sea urchin is stuffed into the scored meat to serve…

• Serves 1 · ¥455

• Cook time 1 hr

Asari clams and spring daikon, simmered and steeped

The asari clams and spring daikon simmered and steeped is a dish devised with inspiration from a dish by my mentor, Rokusaburo Michiba. Using the…

• Serves 1 · ¥2,000

• Cook time 1 hr

Pike conger peony

This is the prep work for hamo. At my restaurant we process hamo by boiling it whole, so when I source hamo, I ask the supplier not to remove the…

• Serves 1 · ¥300

• Cook time 40 min

Matsutake and pike conger grilled with fragrant onion soy

This is the grilled course. For the matsutake and hamo grilled with fragrant onion soy, we first make an onion soy sauce and baste the fish with it…

• Serves 1 · ¥1,900

• Cook time 1 hr

King crab shinjo napa cabbage roll, simmered, with snow-ring lotus root, twisted colorful vegetables, garland chrysanthemum sauce, and bok choy

As an accompaniment we've added yukiwa-cut lotus root; fewer chefs take the time to do this kind of decorative knifework these days, so we decided to…

Hamo and Matsutake Dobin-Mushi

Dobin-mushi made with early-season matsutake and hamo is the classic, standard combination for this time of year, something many Japanese people…

Peony-cut pike conger kuzu-tataki, clear-soup style, with burdock root, water shield, baby melon, and green yuzu

For the clear-soup course, straining and bringing the soup stock to a boil, then adding a small amount of sake, gives the flavor a rounder, softer…

Simmered bamboo shoot and rockfish with butterbur and sansho leaf

After filleting the mebaru, blanch it briefly for about five seconds. Afterward, remove the surface sliminess — doing this thoroughly keeps any fishy…

Bamboo shoot, pen shell, bigfin reef squid, bracken fern, and sansho leaf in sansho-leaf miso dressing

This time, on 'sakizuke,' I learned from chef Matsubara (Roppongi's 'Kasumitei Matsubara'). I take up 'kinome-miso-ae.'

Pike conger coated in kuzu starch, reconstituted pickled plum, small melon, Bubu-arare

This time, on the 'soup-bowl course,' I learned from chef Katō (Meguro Gajoen). This time I take up the 'hamo soup bowl.'

Bamboo Shoot Puree and Plum Vinegar-Dressed Bamboo Shoot, Mugwort Tofu

A seasonal dish born from creative work with bamboo shoot. Since this is served as the first dish of the course, I designed it to be gently seasoned…

• Serves 1 · ¥320

• Cook time 2 hr