Culinary epiphanies don't happen often, but when they do, they are food for thought. I had one recently dining on prime Japanese beef and it was an experience that, on reflection, recalled a childhood event. Not that I grew up eating wagyū — far from it; rather, the portion of seared beef reminded me about the sadness of finishing something that is so gorgeous, so delicious, that you never want it to be over. Yet, every bite is a game of give and take, pleasure versus trepidation as the end draws nearer.

The first time I experienced this was with a Twix chocolate bar — like I said, I was a kid.

Back to the beef. It was Matsusaka beef from Ocean's Farm in Mie Prefecture and we were dining at What's, a restaurant housed in a machiya (old-fashioned townhouse) in downtown Kyoto. There are a handful of other branches of What's dotted around Kansai: What's the Kitchen in Gion, two What's butchers and What's the Store in Shiga. This What's is mid-priced; in Gion it's expensive. What's the story with the name? Although I asked, I am none the wiser, but the beef is what matters.