I've featured Kamachiku here before, but absolutely no excuses are needed for revisiting this excellent udon specialist in the shitamachi back streets of Nezu. The reason this time: it is featured in my September column in Skyward, the inflight magazine for Japan Airlines.
For those who won't be flying JAL this month, this is what the title page looks like…
To see the actual article… unfortunately, there are copyright issues…
Revisiting the remarkable idiosyncratic Mikawa Zezankyo, which is the featured restaurant in my column this month (July) for Skyward, the inflight magazine of Japan Airlines.
It's some of the very best tempura in Tokyo — and one of the most OTT interiors. Which all adds up to a highly memorable meal.
When Saotome opened Zezankyo five years ago, he envisaged it as more than just a restaurant, but also a salon for writers and artists, a place to showcase the work of local craftsmen. He has installed Buddhist statues and art nouveau stained glass, ceramics and bronzes, with lacquerwork everywhere. And, overhead, hangs a huge copper extractor hood in the shape of a Borsalino, his favorite hat.
This, too, is a reflection of his Edomae aesthetic, in which art appreciation intersects with bon-vivant bravado.…"
Unfortunately, copyright restrictions mean I can't show the actual pages of my piece, only the Skyward title page. However, if you're flying in or out of Japan on JAL, I hope this adds a certain vicarious enjoyment to your inflight meal!
In my latest Food Matters column in Friday's Japan Times, I introduce three new (or recently launched) English-language magazines that are offering some interesting in-depth articles on Japanese food culture.
Fool Magazine is great — all about food and the new generation of chefs who are bringing a new dynamism to their restaurants. Its recent Issue 3 included a great piece on Miyamasou, as featured in a post here not so long ago.
Kinfolk, as mentioned, has just launched a Japanese edition (on the right in the image at the top). Although it's not a foodie magazine as such — more a slow-life lifestyle publication — that particular issue (in both languages) included some good articles on Japanese food culture.
That issue also carries an interview with Yuri Nomura, chef and instigator of the wonderful Eatrip restaurant — as reviewed in the Japan TImes earlier this summer — and also director of the documentary movie of the same name.
A few weeks ago I posted about the Kinfolk event that was held in Hayama — first on the beach with the fisherman and afterwards the meal that was prepared by Arimoto-san in Griot. More events are planned this autumn for those in the Tokyo region.
Meanwhile, Asia Eater looks like it will definitely be worth following (so much so I've taken out a digital sub as I don't see it in any Tokyo bookstores).
Besides the piece by Makiko Itoh on wagashi, the first issue included pieces on Tsukiji Market's impending move; and on Yoshihiro Narisawa, a chef who needs absolutely no further introduction on this blog.
The latest issue of Fool Magazine plopped through my mail box earlier this week.
Even more perhaps than the previous two issues, it is a feast for the eyes — great articles on the people and places that really count in the world of food and eating, superb photography, and all beautifully laid out.
This piece in particular caught my eye. It's a profile of Miyamasou, the remarkable and legendary ryokan in the mountains to the north of Kyoto, and its owner-chef Hisato Nakahigashi.
The piece is written by Junya Yamasaki, himself a chef — at the excellent and innovative Koya Udon in Soho (London)…
…and those very atmospheric photographs, all in monochrome or dusk tints are by Per-Anders Jorgensen (who cofounded and co-edits Fool, together with his wife Lotta).
Like the restaurant, this piece is highly recommended. As is the the entire issue.
I'm pretty sure Fool does not have any distribution in Japan as yet. I got mine by ordering direct from Sweden.
As for Miyamasou, I have still not been out there — yet… hopefully before too long.
But even if you don't have the time (and budget) for a night at Miyamasou, you can still get a vicarious taster, at the beautifully refined Oku, a tearoom/gallery in the heart of Gion. The obanzai lunch is a treat.
PS: my snapshot take on Koya Udon is here…
If you've not flown (or are planning to fly) international on JAL this month, then you won't get to see this piece on Kagura, the fine (and 1-starred) little ryoriya in Akasaka.
It's an atmospheric space, decked out with lots of rustic timber. Lunch there, featuring anago chazuke, is definitely worth sampling…
I love the photos with this piece — they're by Akio Takeuchi. They really capture something of the place, and the food.
The Kagura website is here...
Food writer and restaurant reviewer for the Japan Times contact: foodfile (at) me (dot) com
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