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Late-season autumn-run salmon, spiral deep-fry, shrimp-shaped taro, roasted-grain-flour deep-fry

There are two deep-fried dishes, and both have already been seasoned to bring out their own true flavor, so they're delicious to enjoy just as they…

Roe-bearing sweetfish, sweet soy-simmered

Yuzu shell cup, cod milt baked in white sauce

For the appetizer, I used yuzu sent to us in large quantities from our affiliated kappō ryokan in Fukushima; since it would be a waste to use only…

Botan shrimp, Yachimata peanuts smoked over sawdust, red Fushimi chili pepper, kabosu citrus shell, crab and chrysanthemum greens blanched and dressed, Tomisato baby taro grilled with fermented bonito innards, roe-bearing mantis shrimp wrapped in wakame, saffron cod roe ginger-soy simmered, maple-red spicy cod roe terrine, pufferfish fin in a sweet-vinegar marinade, baby arrowhead bulb, ginkgo-leaf-shaped sweet potato confection, salted ginkgo nuts

Our guests are mostly somewhat older women visiting on pilgrimage during the day, and business parties such as client entertaining in the evening…

Warm-smoked mallet-shaped roll, rolled dried baby-sardine sheet, sansho-leaf dressed dish, layered black soybeans, monkfish liver egg-yolk-batter fried

For the tatami iwashi yatsuhashi, I spread a thin layer of shrimp fish paste onto the tatami iwashi, a sheet of dried baby sardines, roll it around a…

Tomato-stuffed water eggplant, pea-stuffed aori squid, bakurai jelly, Mineoka tofu

Made in a style resembling an appetizer course. As for the tomato-stuffed eggplant — a mild, low-acid variety usually eaten raw — since tomato and…

Grilled pike conger eel with shredded vegetable filling

For the grilled course, I used hamo. Our restaurant has continued in Tokyo since the Edo period, but these days, more and more guests request hamo…

Miso-and-sake-lees-cured monkfish liver, wrapped in green onion

For the appetizer course's miso-and-sake-lees-cured ankimo wrapped in green onion, I remove the thin membrane from the monkfish liver, soak it in…

Twisted-rein-grilled sea bream and bamboo shoot, freeze-dried konjac sake-lees pickle, dried persimmon and cheese coin-cut, clam wrapped in new potato mousse, butterbur sprout simmered and steeped

For the large-plate course, the freeze-dried konjac narazuke: slice the konjac thin, freeze it into shimi-konnyaku, then thaw it and turn it into…

Mugwort tofu

For the mugwort tofu, we ladle in a delicious dashi broth, top it with sake-steamed icefish, and try to bring out the fragrance of spring.

Conger eel yawata-maki

Pine cone abalone, daisen-ni; molded sea cucumber; honeycomb tripe, Yamato style; rein-pattern sushi; plum-blossom lily bulb; green-fleshed daikon and bottarga

For the celebratory course's pine cone abalone daisen-ni, I score a small abalone into a pine-cone pattern, then rehydrate it for about six hours in…

Japanese flounder rolled with rapeseed blossoms, pond smelt grilled with sansho leaf, shrimp plum-blossom sushi, bracken fern shoots and lotus root, and lotus root three-flavor deep-fry

Pike conger, water-peony style

The soup course is pike conger mizu-botan. Mizu-botan is a season word for July, and it's also well known as a summer wagashi — white bean paste dyed…

Thin-Sliced Turnip with Sesame Vinegar Dressing

This time it's a vinegared dish, but at our restaurant we don't force one into every menu — we serve it within the appetizer, or bring it out for…

Sponge-cake fish dumpling, small sea bream and matsutake rein-twist sushi, chrysanthemum daikon roll, udo-peel kinpira bundle

For the appetizer's kasutera shinjo, raisins are reconstituted in wine beforehand so their color doesn't fade. The ingredients are combined, poured…

Deep-fried in an arare-cracker coating

Wrapped and grilled in magnolia leaf

Abalone and La France Pear

For the final savory course, Nagano Prefecture, along with Yamagata, is a major producer of La France pears. Highland-grown tricolor bell peppers are…

Egg Yolk Salmon Roll

For the mustard vinegar, combine one part sweet mirin vinegar with two parts kombu dashi, add an appropriate amount of Japanese mustard, and finish…

Pufferfish sushi, fermented crucian-carp sushi, Shirakawa sea bream grilled with bottarga, beef loin marinated in miso, king crab grilled with aromatics, assorted crackers with dried sea-cucumber ovary, bur-shaped deep-fried chestnut with its inner skin, small sea bream in a chrysanthemum-style sweet-vinegar marinade

For the hors d'oeuvre tray course, I had in mind an outing box lunch for this season — a 'slightly luxurious bento,' say, for maple-leaf viewing —…

Milt tofu

The shirako tofu for the clear-soup course is made by stretching the shirako with just enough surimi that its aroma is not lost. On top of the…

Seaweed fish cake, Murakami beef Echigo-style grilled, pressed-sugar confection, miso-glazed sponge gourd, Sado-style steamed jidori chicken

Beltfish nanban roll, deep-fried; quail dumpling and potato, deep-fried; yam bulbil, nori-wrapped and fried

The fried course's basket somen is made by gathering somen noodles into a basket shape and deep-frying them plain (su-age).