Sure we could give you chapter and verse about our introductory meal at Narisawa Shanghai (the only international outpost of chef Yoshihiro Narisawa's eponymous restaurant in Tokyo), but the minute details might be slightly outdated by the time you squint at these words on your screen.
And that’s a good thing.
Specialising in ‘innovative Satoyama cuisine,’ Narisawa upholds a harmonious relationship between natural and man-made environments, meaning that produce is permitted to follow the beat of their natural cycle, not forcibly or prematurely harvested before their time.
As such, don’t expect the ‘Bread of the Forest’ that’s baked tableside to contain yuzu and mugwort as ours did. The restaurant’s signature bread course is always spun using wild yeast from the Shirakami Mountains, but different ingredients will act as the bread’s colouring and flavouring agents next time.
"Gion Festival"
By the same token, the gem-like eggplant dish called “Gion Festival” will almost certainly be gone by the end of summer, as will the lobster main sweetened with tomato and perfumed with vanilla — all the better to let autumn gourds and warm, wintry dishes assume centerstage.
An ‘Instagrammable’ dish served with edible ‘ash’ and suffused with smoke, the squid main, which mimics Chef Narisawa’s memory of seeing fishermen grill their daily catch on the beach, will be swapped for a different kind of seafood soon — but wouldn’t it be better to experience a novel form of pageantry and be taken by surprise completely?
Summer peach dessert
Likewise, the lovely peach dessert that Chef Narisawa learned to make from his father (also Chef Narisawa) could be served recurringly — but why rely on greenhouse-grown fruit past October, when apples, apricots and lychees proliferate in fall-winter?
All this to say that if we are happy to eat whatever an itamae plonks down before us at a sushi bar, the omakase approach should also apply to white tablecloth dining. Leave it to the experts, shall we? And you'll find no more learned or passionate experts than the tastemakers and service staff at Narisawa.
Set Menu: 1,800 RMB + 10% service charge
Sake Pairing Menu: 1,200 RMB (highly recommended)
