RevisitI traveled through Kyoto, Yamanashi, and Nagano in search of wild vegetables, ultimately giving up in Akita. In Akita, I focused on the rich flavors of ingredients from the southern region of the prefecture...The building of this restaurant, which used to be a guesthouse for TDK (there's a factory on the opposite side of Nikaido Station), is impressively constructed, especially the pillars and beams (see photo 29).After enjoying a welcome dish of Takahara Hinai Chicken and consomme soup made with the pure spring water from Mount Chokai, the following dishes were served:1. **[Squid, Kumquat]** Muddy squid, sweet shrimp, and kumquat tart topped with caviar.2. **[Potato, Shiso]** Chilled potage made from 2-year-aged Baron potatoes, with shiso oil and truffles from Oga.3. **[Hata, Wild Vegetables, Plum]** Marinated Hata with wasabi (horseradish), boiled wild vegetables (Shidoke: Momijigasa, Sashibo: young shoots of Itadori) dressed in plum vinegar, and water shield.4. **[Cherry Salmon, Kale]** 5kg cherry salmon cooked to medium, with Hachirogata's sweetfish (Wakasagi), anchovy, nuts, shiitake mushrooms, seafood bouillon, kale, and white wine sauce, served with three types of wild vegetables from Shirakami (Kogomi, young elderflower shoots, and Harigiri: a type of wild vegetable).5. **[Takahara Hinai Chicken, Twilight Rice, Tototama]** Twilight rice (sake rice?), paella with crab and shrimp broth, mixed with fermented Iburigakko radish, Takahara Hinai Chicken, and a sauce made from Tototama (free-range chicken) egg yolk and chicken fat.6. **[Lamb, Brown Rice Koji Miso]** Grilled shoulder of 14-month-old Suffolk lamb (a cross between lamb and mutton), with a sauce made from lamb broth and brown rice koji miso, served with asparagus and bent bamboo shoots (young bamboo).7. **[Strawberry, Bakké]** Strawberry soup with fruit, ice cream made from bakké (butterbur flower buds), topped with apple tuile (candy).8. **[Petit Fours, Tea]** Dried sweet potato and white chocolate brownie. Coffee: Madam's blend (tasting). Coffee: Tanzania.Due to another table's delay, we started at 12:20, resulting in a leisurely 3-hour meal... Normally, it would take about 2.5 hours.Total: 13,200 JPY for lunch, 6,600 JPY for non-alcoholic pairing, totaling 19,800 JPY.Here are my impressions of the meal:- I was amazed that all the ingredients, including local seafood and wild vegetables, as well as caviar from farmed butterfly fish and truffles from Oga, were sourced from Akita. This French restaurant is among the best in Japan for sourcing local ingredients. The difference from 6-7 years ago is remarkable, and I could truly feel the strong bond between the chef and the producers.- I requested wild vegetables, and I am grateful for the rare varieties sourced from Shirakami in the northern part of the prefecture.- Overall, the dishes were light. According to my dining companion, dish 8 was the heaviest.For dish 2: Recently, I have encountered dishes using 1-2 year aged potatoes, but this was the sweetest I have tasted. I was surprised that such sweetness could be achieved without any added sugars... The texture was creamy rather than soupy.The chef from Yamanashi's Restaurant SAI mentioned that truffles grow wild all over Japan; they just need to be found. It seems this restaurant has connections with skilled truffle hunters.For dish 3: Only the tips of the new shoots were used, which had a high gelatinous content (see photo 9). I had long thought that the ones from Hiroshima Nagase were the best in Japan, but these were equally impressive. Akita, boasting the highest production volume in Japan, is rare for having a restaurant like this serving water shield, as most go to high-end establishments in Tokyo.For dish 5: The chef proudly claims this is an Akita specialty, and it was packed with the umami of crustacean broth... This was the best paella I have ever had.A few months ago, I had a paella at a top Spanish restaurant in Ginza, and it felt amateurish in comparison.For dish 6: The cooking of the Suffolk lamb was exceptional. This was on par with the lamb from Iida's Yuzuki Moto.The bent bamboo shoots (which I encountered while foraging for wild vegetables in Akita and was attacked by a bear) were a delightful addition.While my previous dinner was excellent, this lunch felt like a concentrated lineup of dishes.The timing of my visit coincided perfectly with the wild vegetable season.It's a bit far, but the southern part of Akita is fascinating.
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