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Abalone tempura, Inaniwa udon, grated daikon, aromatics

This time, the basic rice course is 'Inaniwa udon.' We have guests eat it simply, with grated daikon and aromatics, but the temperature and time used…

• Serves 4 · ¥3,000

• Cook time 1 hr

Zuiki tōji-maki with conger eel in a shinjo coating, lily bulb simmered in happō dashi

This is the simmered course. For the zuiki tōji-maki with conger eel in a shinjo coating, the obvious approach would be to simply add simmered conger…

• Serves 4 · ¥2,200

• Cook time 1 hr

Wild mountain vegetables in tofu dressing

This time, we learned about "shira-ae" from Master Instructor Atsuta (Hitotsubashi, Josui Kaikan).

Soba shinjo, quail dumplings, late-season matsutake

This is the soup course. The soba shinjo uses soba, mochi flour, and Japanese mountain yam, so it uses every part that makes up the character for…

• Serves 4 · ¥200

• Cook time 30 min

Crimson-Fuji Inaniwa udon, cloud-white abalone, tempura bits, aromatics

So that it's clear the tanuki — the shape-shifting trickster of folklore — has transformed itself into Crimson Fuji, I scattered tenkasu, the fried…

• Serves 4 · ¥3,000

• Cook time 1 hr

Miso-Marinated Crab Roe, Nagori Grilled Eggplant

The appetizer, since it's October, is nagori, last-of-the-season, grilled eggplant: I grill only the cap end of the eggplant over charcoal and top it…

• Serves 4 · ¥500

• Cook time 2 hr

Snow-white kakiage

Even for a veteran master chef, there are many dishes whose preparation can't be understood just by hearing about them or seeing them once. That's…

Chirashi Sushi

This time it's chirashi sushi, the fundamental rice course. For this sushi rice, I wanted a pronounced vinegar aroma, so I make the sushi vinegar…

• Serves 4 · ¥5,000

• Cook time 1 hr

Sushi, sushi, sushi, sushi — the incoming boat, the outgoing boat

As an innovation for the rice course, I devised this from chirashi-zushi. Between layers of sushi rice, I press in dry-roasted items — dry-scrambled…

• Serves 4 · ¥12,000

• Cook time 1 hr

Ōboshi scallop, new-crop nameko mushroom

This is the vinegared course. Ōboshi scallop, nameko mushroom, and cucumber are dressed together and topped with chrysanthemum petals. The grated…

• Serves 4 · ¥1,500

• Cook time 20 min

Sweet shrimp in a yuzu shell, Ōharagi kisu, Kizuki burdock, saimaki-prawn leaf cracker, pine-nut pinecone-shaped matsukaze

This is the appetizer course. The sweet shrimp in a yuzu shell has sweet shrimp and vinegar-cured turnip diced small inside a hollowed yuzu shell…

• Serves 1 · ¥1,500

• Cook time 15 hr

King crab and sea urchin soy-glazed grill, butterfish saikyo-yaki

The grilled course pairs king crab with a sea-urchin soy glaze and butterfish saikyo-yaki. Combining sea urchin with king crab brings out a rounder…

• Serves 4 · ¥2,500

• Cook time 9 hr

Tuna cut lengthwise into long strips, corner-folded flounder, thread-cut cuttlefish

This is the sashimi course. This is something I first served when I led a training seminar for AAJ, and this time I've made it again with a fresh…

• Serves 1 · ¥3,000

• Cook time 1 hr

Matsukawa-style longtail red snapper, stone-wall-style yam bulbils, hijiki fish-paste dumpling, rising-sun-style mullet roe, iron-fan-style kuruma prawn, sweet potato simmered with lemon, and petal-shaped New Year mochi

Among the appetizers, the stone-wall-style yam bulbils are styled after the image of 'until moss grows upon it' from the Kimigayo (Japan's national…

Ginkgo-nut rice, new-crop bettarazuke, oyster red miso soup

The rice course is ginkgo-nut rice. Salt alone is enough seasoning, since it lets the ingredient's own flavor come through fully. And when I thought…

• Serves 4 · ¥1,200

• Cook time 1 hr

Conger eel yawata-maki

Fugu milt terrine

Ceremonial dried abalone, crab Kōrin-plum crackers, plum-branch denbu, kobore-ume dressed in white, sea urchin grilled with sheet sake lees

This is the appetizer course. For the crab Kōrin-plum crackers, I knead in a paste made from the pressed lees of the tiny-shrimp soy sauce mentioned…

Melon and golden egg-sheet brocade roll, snow-ring-cut burdock, squid dumpling

The simmered yukiwa burdock uses Horikawa burdock (a heirloom Kyoto burdock), reconstituted with rice bran, then simmered in a soba-dashi with a…

Fugu and sanbōkan-citrus steamed dish

This is the fugu and sanbōkan-citrus mushi from the middle-course plate. Pufferfish is mixed with its milt, then finished by pouring over a savory…

Pinecone-cut small abalone, smelt kombu roll, stem lettuce in a tofu-dressed salad, saikyo-miso-cured Kyoto carrot, Daikichi bottarga

Copper Pheasant Herb Grill, Wagyu Wrapped Grill

For the grilled yamadori herb grill, I actually use French edible pigeon. I form the pigeon into a pouch and fill it with the top-quality meat ground…

Anglerfish, tomozu sauce

This is the vinegared course: anglerfish with roasted-miso sauce. I learned how to make the roasted miso from my uncle — spread miso over a mortar…

Tilefish fried Okitsu-style, shark fin shaped into a white fan

For the fried hakusen shark fin, I reconstitute the shark fin in Shaoxing wine with scallion and ginger, using a little soy sauce as well. What is…