The first thing I notice on walking into P72, aside from the massive art installation twisting rhizome-like on the ceiling, is how busy it is. It’s nearly 2 p.m. on a midweek afternoon, but the dining room is still packed. Despite the restaurant’s proximity to tourist magnet Osaka Castle, the crowd looks local, mostly businesspeople and ladies who lunch. The establishment only opened in May, but its predominantly plant-based cuisine has already found a following.
P72 is the signature restaurant at Patina Osaka, the first Japanese outpost of Thailand’s luxury Capella Hotel Group. Its concept, which is inspired by its namesake that references the 72 microseasons in Japan’s traditional calendar, is an ever-changing menu of French-inflected, hyper-seasonal fare that largely eschews animal products and aims for sustainability.
The chef behind the concept is Patina Osaka’s culinary director Antony Scholtmeyer, 57, who drew on his rural upbringing outside of Melbourne, Australia.
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