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Blanched pike conger and grilled eggplant in amber jelly, kuruma prawn and udo rolled in a parchment-style wrap, aigamo duck wrapped and grilled with matsutake, Pacific saury with motte-giku chrysanthemum in an apple vinegar dressing, small turnip simmered in all-purpose dashi, bonito skin simmered in tamari, whiting grilled jade-green, and pumpkin and cheese moon-viewing dumplings

For the appetizer's pike conger and grilled eggplant set in amber jelly, the pike conger has been quickly blanched, but since it can be eaten as…

Shrimp-shaped taro umani with maple coloring, eggplant moon crown, sansho-simmered ayu with roe, conger eel Shinoda-yaki

For the simmered course's momiji ebi-imo umani, the ebi-imo is simmered in a kombu-dashi-based, dark-soy-forward happō broth. The eggplant gekkan…

Autumn mackerel vinegar-cured with vinegar miso, kombu-cured scallop with egg-yolk vinegar sauce, seared cuttlefish with plum-flesh vinegar sauce

In place of sashimi, I made dishes meant to be eaten without soy sauce. For the autumn mackerel su-jime, the mackerel is firmed with a heavy coating…

Clear-soup style tilefish coated in roasted grain powder

For the soup course's full-moon tofu flecked to resemble bush-clover blossoms, since it's a clear-soup preparation, I've set it soft. The liquid left…

Pen shell sprout-wrapped roll, fig wine jelly

For the vinegared dish's fig wine jelly, I used canned figs this time. Water, sugar, and wine are combined and reduced by about a tenth, then the…

Conger eel Hakata-style simmer, tree-ring-cut bamboo shoot, mountain udo white simmer

For the simmered course's conger eel hakata, the winter melon is peeled and its color brought out using baking soda, then layered hakata-style with…

Barracuda grilled with rapeseed blossom, avocado baked in the shell

For the grilled course's avocado kama-yaki, béchamel and avocado are placed into the avocado's own shell (used as the kama, or pot) and baked. This…

Fresh-green style fat greenling

For the soup course, I made a fresh-green style dish using molokheiya. The molokheiya is boiled and then run through a blender ahead of time. A…

Mung bean shira-ae

Mountain yam cut into fine noodle strands

For the nagaimo somen, the mountain yam is peeled in a continuous ribbon (katsura-muki) and then cut into fine somen-like strands. It's a slippery…

Young sea bass wrapped in soba

As for the fukko wrapped in soba, my shop started making hand-cut soba about three years ago, and it inevitably produces scraps and off-cuts…

Abalone shiso deep-fry

Cuttlefish, white fan deep-fry

For the fried course's cuttlefish hakusen-age, finely julienned cuttlefish and shaved new burdock are deep-fried together, though the new burdock is…

Butterfish Daitokuji-yaki, butterfish spring-green grilled, butterfish new-ginger grilled

For the grilled course's butterfish Daitokuji-yaki, a wheat-gluten bread named for Daitoku-ji temple is reconstituted in a seasoned soaking liquid…

Winter melon, scored and rolled into a spiral

For the winter melon naruto-maki, the winter melon is scored in a bamboo-blind style and rolled into a naruto spiral with wakame and a shinjo…

Grated, simmered udo, vegetables and conger eel bundled and set in yuba

For the udo oroshi-ni — a grated-vegetable simmer — the udo is lightly parboiled and run through a food processor, then prepped Ise lobster is added…

Soft roe chakin bundle

For the shirako chakin, sea bream milt is pressed through a fine sieve, shaped into a chakin purse, steamed, and then opened up again. Kuzu starch…

Fat greenling, kuzu-dusted

The soup-bowl course, fat greenling kuzu-dusted, which I have annotated as 'Spring Waves,' involves finely cross-cutting the fat greenling to sever…

Sea urchin terrine; herring roe on kelp stuffed into udo; mantis shrimp with young greens; octopus in jellied simmer; young ayu simmered Koshu-style; halfbeak cured shobu-style; duck 'rock' terrine

For the appetizer's young ayu simmered Koshu-style, since it is young ayu the bones are not much of a hindrance, but I still simmer it until tender…

Shrimp and angelica herb rolls, 'fresh greenery' deep-fry; Ishikawa taro, sesame-coated and deep-fried

For the deep-fried dish, shrimp-and-ashitaba (a Japanese angelica herb) rolls, 'fresh greenery' style: rather than boiling the ashitaba, I saute it…

Red-spotted masu salmon grilled with foie gras miso

As for the grilled dish, satsuki masu grilled with foie gras miso: satsuki masu carries a certain amount of fat, but seasoning it with just a light…

Abalone Hakata-style simmer, kabocha 'moon crown' simmer, tube-cut carrot, salt-steamed shrimp, fava beans

For the simmered course's abalone Hakata-style (a layered preparation named for Hakata in Fukuoka), simmer the abalone gently for about two hours…

Shark Fin Tofu

For the soup-bowl course, shark fin tofu, tofu and fish paste (surimi) are thinned with kelp dashi and formed into dumplings, then wrapped in shark…

Flathead cured with kelp, glazed with an amber sake-based seasoning, young ayu grilled with tomato-miso glaze on a skewer, pike conger rolled around burdock, octopus roe in a golden terrine, Wakasa baby sea bream sansho-leaf sushi

For the appetizer's young ayu tomato-miso dengaku, normally a smartweed miso or the like is used with ayu, but here I tried something a little more…