SEARCH

Hamo, Eggplant and White Melon

This is the appetizer course. The hamo (pike conger eel) is filleted, its fine bones scored, salted, left to rest a while, and boiled. It is then set…

Pike conger eel, lightly seared

This is the soup course. For the seared hamo, I bone-score it and cure it in kombu before searing, which removes its fishy odor and draws out its…

Tender-simmered octopus, deep-fried octopus, grilled octopus (the tale of the octopus)

This is the Tale of the Octopus course. Tender-simmered octopus is not very tasty if made too tender, so it is finished with a bit of bite still…

• ¥1,750

• Cook time 3 hr

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

Koban-Shaped Pen Shell and Fava Bean Chakin

This is a seasonal assortment course proposal built around the last of the pen shell season. For the gold-coin-shaped pen shell and fava bean chakin…

• Serves 5 · ¥2,000

• Cook time 20 min

Mirror-cut daikon simmered to infuse flavor, kuruma shrimp quick soy-simmered, fan-cut bamboo shoot simmered with bonito flavor, pinecone-scored small abalone simmered, plum-shaped carrot, early butterbur simmered green, arrowhead bulb richly simmered

The simmered dishes are meant to evoke pine, bamboo, and plum. For the mirror-cut daikon simmered to infuse flavor, I carve the daikon into a plum…

• ¥500

• Cook time 1 hr

New burdock root pureed soup

For the pike conger with grated plum sauce: this time I used the tail section of the pike conger that isn't used for the quick-blanched preparation…

Baby sweetfish deep-fried live, two-color croquettes

This is the fried dish course. For the two-color croquettes, I make the croquettes with foie gras and anchovy, seasoned so they can be eaten with…

• ¥200

• Cook time 1 hr

Making Vegetables Delicious

Since vegan cooking can only use vegetables, and that leaves the flavor feeling somewhat lacking, I thought about whether I could perfect it starting…

• Serves 4 · ¥1,208

• Cook time 20 min

Eel temari sushi

This is the rice course of the summer menu. This time we chose eel temari-zushi. The hotel where I work receives many guests from overseas, so…

• Serves 1 · ¥200

• Cook time 30 min

Tea-covered grilled sea bass, giant longarm prawn grilled with golden egg yolk

This is a grilled hassun course. For the tea-covered grilled sea bass, if served at the counter, placing the sea bass on a heated stone, pouring tea…

• ¥590

• Cook time 1 days

Brown rice coffee, charred tea snack

Charring is an old technique in Japan; I first learned of it back when I studied macrobiotics. Carbonizing ingredients in a Vermicular oven takes…

• ¥180

• Cook time 5 min

Pike conger quick-blanched with seasonal vegetables, pike conger roe in savory jelly

This is the vinegared dish course. For the pike conger yubiki with seasonal vegetables, I quick-blanch the pike conger and chill it in a lightly…

• ¥400

• Cook time 30 min

Pike Conger Dusted with Kuzu Starch

This is the soup course. For the pike conger dusted with kuzu starch, we used kuzu — a Japanese herb — to coat the pike conger, which is in season in…

Sea Bream Kombu-Cured, Layered with Salt-Cured Roe

The sashimi course is sea bream kombu-jime layered with shio-ko. We don't want to make guests do the work of dipping into a small cup to eat, so…

• Serves 5 · ¥1,000

• Cook time 1 hr

Three kinds of eel skewers (kurikara-yaki, grilled eel head, and fin cutlet)

As a way to work around rising ingredient costs, the concept behind this presentation-stand course (dai-no-mono) is 'new value.' When eel prices…

• Serves 1 · ¥350

• Cook time 2 hr

Icefish wrapped in a twisted cloth shape, plum and green tea pureed soup with grated turnip

As for the icefish chakin, the soup-bowl centerpiece, if the icefish isn't prepped carefully it can ruin the whole dish, so I was conscious of…

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.'

Miso-style, Chikuma River roe-bearing ayu-koku

This focuses on ingredients from Nagano. Koi-koku is a rich miso soup and simmered dish made by long-simmering carp cut into rounds in miso, and it…

• Serves 1 · ¥340

• Cook time 2 hr

Mamekozou Peas Steamed Kishu-Style

The blessings of Hyogo's five provinces -- Settsu bamboo shoot grilled in the style of Nada's five sake districts; Harima bamboo shoot in vinegar jelly flavored with its tender inner sheath; Tajima bamboo shoot with firefly squid and egg-yolk vinegar sauce; Tamba bamboo shoot, black bean, and mountain yam wrapped in yuba and deep-fried; Awaji bamboo shoot and needle-cut squid in sansho-leaf miso

We combined the wonderful spring ingredients of the five regions within Hyogo Prefecture -- Settsu, Harima, Tajima, Tamba, and Awaji -- each rich in…

• Serves 1 · ¥1,420

• Cook time 2 days

Bigfin reef squid sake-simmered, blanched taro stem dressed with shiso, seared and blanched flounder

For the blanched taro stem dressed with shiso: I bruise the shiso and let it sit in water so the color doesn't change, then dress it right in front…

• ¥780

• Cook time 1 hr

Spiny lobster and cockle

This is a specialty course. The Ise lobster is cleaned and pan-seared in sake until half-cooked. The cockle is also shelled and pan-seared in sake…

• ¥540

• Cook time 15 min

Soba in its own cooking broth, with myoga; rock salt and yuzu; wasabi and Nankō ume; wakegi scallion and hand-picked nori

The idea for this product came about when I was feeling unwell and couldn't take my medicine withou…