Foodle

📍 鮨桂太, 東京, 2024年8月
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どの友人に聞いてもきっと同じことを言うだろう……「東京でおすすめの寿司は？」と尋ねられたら、僕のリストには必ず一つの名前がある。そう、KEITA。
“北海道の魔法使い”——僕が勝手にそう呼んでいる彼は、自らのルーツを見事に表現する。彼の手にかかれば、甲殻類や貝類は目が回るほどのクオリティで輝き出す…。そこに燻製、火入れ、熟成といった技が合わさることで、すべての皿が唯一無二の体験となるんだ。
イクラは舌の上でふわっと溶けた…。鮎は銀杏と内臓のクリームとともに出され、まるで味覚の詩だった…。北海道のニシンは柔らかく、甘みと旨味があり、それに合わせた蟹はしっかりとした身質で豊か、まさに拍手もののコンビネーション！
活きたまま調理された海老とその頭のソース、軽く燻された喉黒、あの雲のようなアナゴ…。イワシ、小肌、紫ウニ…。挙げればキリがないほど、どの一品も心を奪われた。
しかも季節はあの“最悪”の8月だったにも関わらず、全ての食材が圧倒的に素晴らしかった。
正直、あのカウンターから立ち上がりたくなかった…。KEITAは間違いなく、伝説の殿堂に名を刻む存在になるだろう——いや、もしかしたらもうそこにいるのかもしれない。
まるで魔法にかけられたような夜をありがとう。また必ず、近いうちに会いに行きます。

Ask any of my friends for confirmation… every time someone asks me for sushi recommendations in Tokyo, there’s always one name on my list: KEITA.
The “Wizard of Hokkaido” (that’s what I like to call him) proudly showcases his roots with a mind-blowing selection of shellfish and mollusks… paired with masterful techniques of smoking, cooking, and aging that turn each dish into a one of a kind experience.
The ikura melted in my mouth… the ayu with ginkgo nuts and its own innards cream was pure poetry on the palate… the Hokkaido herring, so soft, sweet, and flavorful, paired with a rich, generous piece of crab, an applause worthy combo!
The live cooked ebi with a sauce made from its head… the lightly smoked and seared nodoguro… that cloud-like anago… the iwashi, the kohada, the murasaki uni… I could go on listing every dish, because despite it being August (the worst sushi season), every single ingredient was of absolutely exceptional quality.
I honestly never wanted to leave that counter… to me Keita is a chef destined for the pantheon of legends (if he’s not already there)
Thank you for this truly magical evening. We’ll meet again very soon. Less

Sticky rice roti with coconut-smoked short rib @manao_dubai @abhiraj_khatwani @m.orfali 🔥🇹🇭
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Back again. Man, I love Thai food - and this is easily one of the most impressive Thai restaurants I’ve been to. The creativity across the menu and the way flavours are layered and balanced is genuinely next level. Every course feels like it shouldn’t be able to top the last, and somehow, it always does. A well deserved star for the team here .

Their short rib taco is one of my favourite bites of all time, and I’m so glad it’s stayed on the menu. Perfectly tender, ultra-juicy, beautifully charred short rib, served on a sticky rice roti “taco” with kaffir lime relish and fermented sticky rice. A two-bite explosion of flavour - rich, spicy, smoky and fatty, yet perfectly balanced.

The grilled king crab shoulder with green chilli nam jim and coriander stem was another standout. An underutilised ingredient that’s incredibly buttery and sweet, handled with restraint and just the right hit of heat. I loved how gently this was flavoured. The lobster khanom krok is a wild dish that’s hard to describe - think a crisp-cased dumpling filled with warm, fermented rice custard, topped with smoked lobster tail. Completely unique. Beautiful to look at and even better to eat.

So many layers to every dish here, with nothing out of balance. This is the kind of fine dining I love - creative, flavour-led cooking that’s bold, punchy and never predictable. An all-time favourite. Food, service and vibe all in check Less

📍 喰切料理 八方, 岡山, 2025年8月
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時々、本当に自分でも呆れるほどのマヌケなんです（まあ…正直に言えば、ほぼ“いつも”ですけど）…でも不思議なことに、宇宙のどこかの法則のおかげで、なぜかそれでも上手くいっちゃうんですよね😁。たとえば岡山。写真を見て「ん？家で愛用してるサンルイスのグラスと全く同じセットがある…！」という、それだけの理由で予約した懐石。しかもそのグラス、もはや人間より大事にしてるレベルのヤツです。で、いざ入店してみたら…まさかのミシュラン二つ星、タベログ4点近く。はい、いつものパターンです。
山ほど書きたい誉め言葉はあるんですけど、まずは出てきた“イタリアンXXLサイズ”のタンパク質メニューをそのまま並べます🤣：
鴨、スッポン、伊勢海老、蟹、セミエビ、鮪、海鰻、クエ、鰻、ウツボ、帆立、鮎、鯛、ノドグロ、豚。
まるで底なしの買い出しリストみたいなのに、シェフの手にかかると教科書級のオマカセに変わるんだから、本当に魔法みたい。調理技法は多種多様、組み合わせは独創的で、純粋なクリエイティビティの塊でした。
特に大トロは別次元すぎて…その…義務感と言いますか…追加でお寿司を頼むしかなかったんです。
そこにローカルの日本酒ばかりで組まれたペアリングが追い打ちをかけてくるんですから、もう降参です。一杯一杯が“わあ…”って声の漏れるやつ。（ていうか…岡山って実は日本酒界の秘密のナルニアだったんですか？知らなかったんだけど…）
とにかく。この愛してやまない国のどの街も、気付けば心の奥に入り込んで、他では味わえない感情をくれるんですよね。本当に、ありがとう。心から。🇯🇵✨

Sometimes I’m honestly such an idiot (okay, fine… let’s say it: pretty much always)… and yet, by some mysterious cosmic rule, things somehow still end up working out for me 😁. Take Okayama, for example: I booked this kaiseki place solely because, in the photos, I noticed they had the exact same set of Saint Louis glasses I have at home… the ones I’m attached to more than to most human beings. The result? I walk in for the glasses and only afterwards discover the place has two Michelin stars and nearly a 4 on Tabelog. Classic.
Among the thousand compliments I could write, let me just list the protein dishes they served me, all in full “Italian XXL” portions 🤣:
Duck, Turtle, Lobster, Crab, Slipper Lobster, Tuna, Sea Eel, Grouper, Freshwater Eel, Moray Eel, Scallop, Ayu, Sea Bream, Blackthroat Seaperch, Pork.
An endless shopping list that, in the chef’s hands, became a textbook-perfect omakase: wildly different cooking techniques, inventive pairings, pure creativity.
The fatty tuna was so otherworldly that we had to… you know… out of a sense of duty… order extra sushi.
And then they practically adopted me with rounds of sake: an entire pairing made only with local bottles, each one more “wow” than the last. (So wait… is Okayama actually some kind of secret Narnia of sake and no one told me?)
Anyway… as always, every city in this country I love somehow slips under my skin and gives me emotions I can’t find anywhere else. Thank you. Truly. 🇯🇵✨ Less

📍 東山 吉寿 , 京都, 2025年8月
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もし財布をなくしたとしても、クレジットカードや現金なんて、きっと最後の心配事だろう（理由は最後の写真を見ればわかる）。
君の料理哲学はもう何年も前から知っていたけれど、最初の一口から最後の一口まで、想像もしなかった味わいや組み合わせで、ただただ驚かされ、心から陶酔させられた。
結局のところ、コンセプトはまさにこれなんだと思う……「今、ここ」。その瞬間にしか味わえない感情。「旬」という言葉だけでなく、その日、その時、その一瞬が与えてくれる最高のものを土台にした体験。
すべてを貫いているのは、はっきりと感じられる守破離の精神。和食という枠を決して越えずに、既存の型を崩しながら、真正さと個人的な革新を見事に融合させている。
さて……優しさだの、愛情だの、あの甘ったるいコメントたちはどこへ行ったんだ？……まあ、写真に写っている笑顔の数を見れば十分だろう。このシェフと彼の仲間たちが、どれほど温かく、親しみ深く接してくれたかは一目瞭然だ。そして同じくらい深い愛情で迎えてくれた、周りにいた素晴らしい人たち。お盆で家族が集まる夕食の場で、まるで身内の一人のように迎え入れられ、誰一人として笑顔や乾杯をやめることはなかった。
さて！今回もやっぱり、くどくて感傷的だったね……でも仕方がない。
君たちは僕の心を盗んだんだから。またみんなに会える日を、心から楽しみにしている。

If I were to lose my wallet, credit cards and cash would be the very last of my worries (the final photo explains why).
I’d known your culinary philosophy for years, but from the very first bite to the last, you amazed me with flavors and pairings I never could have imagined.
After all, that’s exactly the point… “here and now”.
Emotions that can only be lived in that precise moment, built upon the very best that not just “the season,” but each single day and instant, can offer. Everything is bound together by the clear guiding thread of Shuhari, which (without ever stepping outside the boundaries of Washoku) breaks conventions and perfectly fuses authenticity with personal innovation.
So… what happened to all my syrupy comments about kindness and affection?…Well, I think it’s enough to look at how many smiles there are in the photos to understand just how warm, caring, and genuinely welcoming this chef and all his team were with me. The same immense affection with which I was received by the wonderful people around me. Families gathered for dinner during Obon, who quite literally treated me like one of their own, never once stopping their smiles or their toasts.
Alright! I’ve been tedious and sentimental once again… but I can’t help it. You stole my heart, and I can’t wait to see all of you again. Less

Until February 22, Fairmont Hotel Vancouver’s tea room is ablush in red, lit by a multitude of Chinese lanterns, quickening pulses, and the need for tea.
It’s the current afternoon tea theme, saluting Lunar New Year and the Year of the Horse. The hotel regularly changes the theme and story lines and this one is teamworked with Chinatown Storytelling Centre in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown. One of the nine teas is an exclusive blend created by the Storytelling Centre in collab with Vancouver’s Tealeaves, “tea blender to Michelin chefs and five-star hotels.”
Food highlights include Jasmine Earl Grey scones, Szechuan-glazed prawn toast, char siu-inspired salmon mi-cuit with yuzu accents; sweets include sesame miso biscuit, mandarin sago pudding, and pastries flecked with gold leaf to symbolize good fortune. Five guests will receive lucky gifts including a Foo Hung Curios prize bundle and tickets to a Sip and Paint event with Justine Crawford, the artist who transformed the room into something out of Shanghai’s golden age. Each guest receives a complimentary ticket to the Storytelling Centre.
On Lunar New Year, February 17, the hotel will explode with the energy of lion dance by Hon Hsing Athletic Club in the lobby, Notch8 Restaurant. The Lunar New Year Afternoon Tea is available Thursday to Sunday.

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#afternoonteas #vancouvertea #chinatownyvr Less

December 28, 2025 Probably the most welcome revelation of the entire trip, a lovely afternoon at @maison_sota in the 11th Arrondissement. A high recommendation by dear friend @gauroved 💕 brought us to an exceptional lunch with Chef @sotaatsumi and sommelier @takashitakebayashi. A definite return visit is in our future 🙏🏻

#maisonsota #parisfrance🇫🇷🗼♥️ #thequest #mystorywithmichelin #france🇫🇷 Less