Western-style Tsubaki Restaurant by Reservation Only

Gifu City is located in the southern part of Gifu Prefecture. Skyscrapers line the area around JR Gifu Station, the gateway to the city. In the old days, Dozo Saito laid the foundation of the city, and Nobunaga Oda, who became the husband of his daughter Kicho, opened Rakuichi Rakuza. In recent years, the area has become a bedroom community, partly because it is only a 20-minute train ride to Nagoya City. Many businessmen and students commute to companies and universities in neighboring Aichi Prefecture, and many people spend their holidays at large shopping centers in the suburbs, giving the area a typical modern regional city face.

On the other hand, it is not widely known that the demand for eating out is high, with citizens spending one of the five highest amounts on dining out in Japan, and the number of restaurants per 1,000 population is one of the highest in Japan. In such an environment, the restaurant ” Western-style Tsubaki” attracts visitors from both inside and outside of the prefecture and is open by reservation only.

Western-style cuisine served in an old private house full of nostalgia

The restaurant is located at the foot of a quiet mountain about 20 minutes north by car from JR Gifu Station. The well-maintained garden with a babbling brook echoing pleasantly reminds one of a luxury ryokan (Japanese inn). Just walking from the gate to the entrance of the restaurant is enough to give you the illusion that you have come for a kaiseki meal. The interior of the restaurant has a modern Japanese style, and you have to take off your shoes at the entrance.

Chopsticks are placed on a Japanese paper luncheon mat laid on a table with the warmth of wood. The plates on which the food is served are all white with gold rims in a simple design. It has the appearance of the “elegant Western-style food” that everyone imagines in the old days. This is Western-style food served in a Japanese-style space. The menu consists mainly of course meals, but a la carte dishes are also available, and there is a wide selection of wines to match the dishes.

What we can do because we are a Wagyu beef specialist

Tanakaya Food Service is one of the restaurants operated by Tanakaya Food Service, a company based in Ibigun, Gifu Prefecture, that operates restaurants focusing on meat. Tanakaya Food Service Co., Ltd. will also open “Butcher Tanaka” in Ginza 6-chome, a prime location in Tokyo, in 2020. The restaurant has become a hot topic as an authentic meat kappo restaurant that serves only one omakase course, using the best brand meat of the day as its main ingredient. The representative, Satoru Tanaka, is a true specialist of Japanese beef, calling himself a “meat master. He opened his first yakiniku restaurant at the age of 25, expanding to Tokyo, Aichi, Gifu, and Shiga, and in 2019, his Nagoya restaurant “Nikuya Setsugetsuka” won a Michelin plate, making his name known nationwide. The restaurant’s name has become a national standard. He is also highly regarded in the industry.

What made “Western-style Tsubaki” so popular was the fact that it used only A5-rank brand beef in its classic Western-style menu of steaks and hamburgers. By reviewing the ingredients of the menu, which has been loved by many people for many years, the restaurant has updated the taste. Hida beef, Matsuzaka beef, Mikawa beef, Omi beef, Kobe beef… He has dealt with more Wagyu beef than anyone else and has studied for many years how to bring out the best of it, so he knows which parts of Wagyu beef to use and how to use them, working backward from the ideal flavor, and has the skills to embody them.

A “formula” that captures the hearts and minds of gourmands

The brand name and individual identification number of the beef used in the restaurant are posted on the wall, which shows the attention to detail. Branded Wagyu beef x standard Western-style food = “Wagyu Western-style food. It may seem like a formula that anyone could come up with, but the solution can only be seen by those with a keen eye. That is why the restaurant has been able to capture the hearts and stomachs of many gourmands. The pride as a butcher that stands dignifiedly in the nostalgic menu may open the door to a new era of Western cuisine in Japan and create a new genre that people want to inherit for a long time to come. This is a restaurant you should definitely visit.

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WAKA Ristorante, a creative Italian restaurant

Kuramoto-cho is known for the University of Tokushima’s medical school and hospital, and is a convenient 6-minute train ride from JR Tokushima Station. WAKA Ristorante is located in a building facing the main street. The restaurant was formerly known as “Casa Marino,” a trattoria where Kazunori Wakabayashi, who had worked at popular Italian restaurants in Tokyo and Kansai, moved to his wife’s hometown, Tokushima, about 25 years ago and boasted overwhelming popularity as the owner-chef. In 2017, the restaurant’s name and location were changed to “WAKA Ristorante” in order to make it a more upscale ristorante and to create a restaurant with a focus on quality. The restaurant’s omakase course, which is available only by reservation, is very popular, and its reputation is well known among food lovers outside of the prefecture. Many fans visit the restaurant every time they come to Tokushima. Nakata recommends Ristorante for its “unique and creative Italian cuisine.
The ingredients used in the courses are all fresh local ingredients from Tokushima and the best imported from all over the country.
For example, the star of the specialty “Tokushima Yuki Wild Lobster Tagliolini” is a wild lobster from Yuki, Tokushima Prefecture. The rich and aromatic sauce is made by stewing the freshly cut live lobsters with tomatoes, and the tagliolini is entwined with the flavor of the fresh pasta, giving it an irresistible, chewy texture. While Tokushima Prefecture is famous for its seafood, Chef Wakabayashi says that the vegetables are also superb. For example, the pointed fruit tomato “Renaissance” grown by AgriBest in Awa City is a gem with few seeds and high sugar content. The ‘koku shiitake’ mushrooms produced in Kamiyama are also delicious with a strong flavor,” says Wakabayashi.

Upscale yet homey Italian cuisine

The main staple, “Awa Beef Chateaubriand Steak,” also features the fine fat of an A5-rank female. Awa Beef is raised in Tokushima Prefecture, which is blessed with abundant water, which results in a fine texture of fat. Chef Wakabayashi places great importance on bringing out the freshness and flavor of these carefully selected ingredients when preparing his dishes. In his courses, he not only brings the ingredients to the forefront, but also sometimes uses them as a soup stock. It is precisely because Chef Wakabayashi knows Tokushima’s delicious food so well that he is able to fully utilize its potential in his own cuisine.
Chef Wakabayashi is particular about not only the food but also the space. He welcomes visitors with the warmth of high-quality wood, using zelkova and cherry trees he cut from his own mountain for the entrance door and tables. The restaurant also chooses Tokushima-made tableware and cutlery, and Otani-yaki plates further enhance the beauty of the cuisine. The cuisine has a luxurious feel, but the relaxed, homey atmosphere may be the secret to making you want to come back again. If you are ever in Tokushima, be sure to make a reservation and visit.

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

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NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

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Fusion of Noto and Italian Cuisine

Located on a hill overlooking the Sea of Japan and the Tateyama Mountain range, Flat is a small inn run by Australian-born Benjamin Flatt (a.k.a. Ben) and his wife Chikako Funashita, who operate it for four couples a day. Ben’s “Noto Italian” cuisine, prepared with fresh local Noto ingredients and homemade fermented foods, is highly acclaimed.
Ben began helping out at his family’s restaurant in Australia when he was 13 years old and worked his way up to head chef at an Italian restaurant in Sydney. After coming to Japan upon his marriage, he learned Noto’s local cuisine at “Sannami,” a guest house run by Chikako’s family.

He not only cooks, but also makes seasonings and preserves unique to the region. For example, his homemade “Ishiri,” made by marinating the innards of fresh squid in salt and fermenting them for three years, is a mild fish sauce that has been produced on the Noto Peninsula for centuries. At dinner in the dining room overlooking the Sea of Japan, you can enjoy a course that uses a variety of seasonal ingredients from Noto, including this homemade “ishiri”. Ben’s unique style of fusing Noto’s food culture with Italian cuisine is unique. The daily menu is based on the spirit of “local production for local consumption” of Italian cuisine, and is determined by looking at the seafood caught that day.

Accommodations with delicious meals and spectacular views

“Konka Iwashi” and “Konka Saba” served for breakfast are traditional Noto preserved foods made by marinating sardines and mackerel in rice bran, salt, and red pepper. Most commercially available products are fermented for six months to a year, but the breakfast items at “Flatto” are homemade gems that have been slowly fermented and aged for two to three years. It is most commonly eaten grilled, but it can also be used as an ingredient in sashimi and nabe (hot pot), and as a Japanese anchovy in salads and dressings,” says Ben. There are many other traditional Noto foods that can be enjoyed at Flatto. For example, “Benkouko,” made by pickling dried daikon radish in ishiri, is a pickle unique to Noto that can also be enjoyed grilled, a rare way to eat it. It is ready to eat when the daikon is charred and the aroma of the pickled radish rises from the air. Yunamba” (1,000 yen), made with home-grown yuzu, Noto’s natural salt, and chili peppers and pickled for four years, is ideal as a condiment for nabe (hot pot) and other dishes. Yunamba” and ‘homemade Ishiri’ (900 yen) are popular as souvenirs.

There are three guest rooms (10 tatami mats) in the main building and one room (8 tatami mats + 6 tatami mats) in a detached house with a hinoki bath. Rooms in the main building also have access to a separate room completed in November 2020 with a full hinoki bath, etc. The price is 20,350 yen per night for two meals (22,550 yen on Saturdays, days before national holidays, and consecutive holidays). The view of Toyama Bay and the garden, which can be enjoyed from every room window, is so beautiful that Hidetoshi Nakata says it left a lasting impression on him. When you visit Noto, we hope you will stay one night and enjoy the seasonal nature and “Noto Italian” cuisine.

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

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NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

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Local-grown material selected by the chef

”RESTRO RIN plus huit” is a French restaurant in Matsumoto City. Chef Masakazu Kobayashi is particular about visiting farms himself to select fresh ingredients.
For our first dish, we had Azumino-raised grazed pork, which was grown in an ideal environment for pigs. Sauce made from sherry vinegar enhanced its flavor. Nagano-grown ”Shiratsuchi imo” as garnish also had excellent taste, sweet and fluffy.

Evening with fine wine and premium beef

The second dish, Shinshu premium beef filet. The beef contains high density of oleic acid which is said to influence the taste. The meat was so soft that a knife can cut it effortlessly, and the juicy taste filled our mouths. At this point, Nakata pulled out the wooden wine aerator he found at ”Kiso Artech Co.”. Wine poured through the aerator is mixed with air that comes through the small holes on the side, making wine more mellow and soft. Nakata tried it with red wine. ”It tastes a bit lighter. The air makes wine fluffy” he commented. Chef Kobayashi’s sharp palate must be able to taste the difference, so we asked him to try as well. He sipped a mouthful and nodded, ” It really does change the taste.”

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From a hotelier to a farmer

”Organic Farm, Bio Farm Matsuki” is at the foot of Mount Fuji. While having lunch at ”Restaurant Bios” which opened in 2009, we spoke to the owner, Kazuhiro Matsuki.

Originally, Matsuki was a server at a restaurant in a hotel. After graduating hotel school, he went to France and worked for Nikko de Paris. He worked at first class French restaurants in places such as Ginza after returning to Japan, and he became the chief server at ”Taiyuan Robuchon” in Ebisu. In 1999, he suddenly decided to change his occupation to farming.

When Nakata commented ”It’s such a big transition from being a hotelier to a farmer.”, Matsuki explained the reason for this change in careers.
”Working in a restaurant is a night job. I wanted to do something that involved working during the day, and go home after it gets dark. It’s a more humane way of life. So I chose farming.”

Endless orders from all over Japan

After agricultural training, Matsumoto began organic vegetable farming in Fujinomiya City. In the beginning, he was thinking on a small scale, ”just enough to be self sufficient”, but he now grows about 60 varieties of vegetables in a land of three hectors. Mitsuki’s vegetables match the soil and climate, so they have a strong and deep taste. The flavor became popular, and orders started pouring in from all over the country.

Matsumoto is very active, having written several books, holds lectures, etc. He also holds ”vegetable school”, so people can know more about vegetables. Nevertheless, calling himself ”a farm person”, he spends most of his time in the fields during the day when the sun is out.

A field changes color every season. At ”Restaurant Bios”, one can enjoy seasonal vegetables which Matsuki grew as well as meat, fish, and dairy which he has acquired from local producers.

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The famous pasta

The Italian restaurant ”Siesta” is so famous that when people want to eat pasta in Wakayama, they say ”Eat here!”. The restaurant is always filled with customers, and is very busy.
It started as a cafe 9 years ago. When they started, the pasta dishes were the most popular, so they reopened as a pasta specialty restaurant. Certainly, once you try the chewiness of fresh pasta, it is to crave for.
The sauce which uses a lot of local ingredients from both the ocean and the land, is also part of the appeal.

Ultimate sweets made from local ingredients

Next to the pasta restaurant, there is a dessert specialty shop, ”Astro Siesta”. Their cheesecake is very popular. People make long lines to buy this cheesecake, so you have to go very early in the morning and line up or they will be sold out. It is the same when they sell at famous department stores.
It is thick and quite sweet. But it is not heavy. This taste comes from high quality ingredients acquired locally, such as free range eggs from Makiba ranch in Oishi plain, honey from mandarin orange flowers of the Nishibayashi apiary, and thick milk from Kimura Ranch. This store is a must visit when visiting Wakayama.

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