Kyoaji chef Kenichiro Nishi's legacy lives on in Japan's top restaurants
The world of traditional Japanese cuisine has lost one of its luminaries. Chef Kenichiro Nishi, the founder of the renowned Shinbashi restaurant Kyoaji, passed away at the age of 81 on July 26.
Hitoshi Miyazawa: Taking a multicourse adventure in Australia
Kaiseki, the multicourse meal that is the height of refinement in Japanese cuisine is the modus operandi of Hitoshi Miyazawa, head chef for Ishizuka in Melbourne, Australia.
Machiko Yamashita: A Japanese breadwinner in Berlin
Former art historian and butoh dancer Machiko Yamashita brings Japanese bread buns to Berliners.
More than 500 guests sampled Wagyu beef and sushi made with Uonuma Koshihikari rice Wednesday at an event to promote Japan's produce on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Dishes featuring yellowtail and scallops were also served at Japan Night, held ...
Why do we need a little bit on the side?
Dear Alice, I have been wondering about something for a long time: Why is sashimi always served on those piles of stringy daikon radish? Has this always been the case? Does the daikon serve any purpose, or is it just there for decoration? Also, what ...
Kyokabutoya: Informal Japanese cuisine in an old wooden townhouse
Yasumasu Ikeda, chef and owner of Kyokabutoya, moved to the Kansai region from Hokkaido more than 15 years ago. After almost a decade of cutting his teeth in the kitchens of Osaka and Kyoto, he opened a Japanese restaurant around 2010. Kyokabutoya is housed ...
Sasaya Iori: Kyoto's 300-year-old sweets shop
The area around Kyoto Station seems to lack the cultural and culinary charms found elsewhere in the city, but this might be changing. A massive restoration of the nearby Higashi Honganji Temple complex will soon be completed and Umekoji Locomotive Museum will be combined ...
Is virtual art as nourishing as a set meal?
You have to admit, it's all awfully clever. At "L'art de Rosanjin," which runs at Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall until March 24, visitors can sit in a virtual tempura restaurant, and gawp as images of the chef's hands at work are projected on the counter ...
Where's the beef? Kyoto looks to carve out global niche
The quintessential tourist image of Kyoto cuisine is one of a refined "bento" (boxed lunch) containing all sorts of small treats, but heavy on fish, tofu and vegetables, with much attention devoted to presentation and tastes that are sublime, but not overpowering. Certain Kyoto ...
Chicken one day doesn't mean feathers on the next
Hisako and Ryoichi Maeda (66 and 67) are the proprietors of Torisue, a tiny take-out-only yakitori shop in the Bontan area of Tokyo's Koto Ward, just a short walk from Monzen-Nakacho Station. Torisue is famous as a B-kyu (B-grade) gourmet favorite and fans from ...
Japan's take on the humble burger
There are two dishes that can be translated as "hamburger" in Japan. One is the all-American favorite, a beef patty sandwiched in a bun, which in Japanese is called hanbāgā. The other kind is similar to a Hamburg steak or Salisbury steak, made with ...
The average Japanese person eats around 320 eggs (tamago) per year, according to the International Egg Commission, placing it in the Top 3 worldwide. (In comparison, the average American eats around 250 eggs per year.) Eggs are enjoyed in many sweet and savory dishes, ...
