@RLiS House Shin-Osaka North

Hideaki Matsuo expresses traditional Japanese culture, guided by the traditional cycle of twenty-four seasons. The chef’s messages on the menu are designed to conjure up scenes of nature in front of guests’ eyes, while seasonal flavours and annual events are woven into the cuisine in truly elegant ways. At an Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan event, Matsuo showcased Osaka food culture to the world. He warmly welcomes trainees from overseas, dedicating himself to the development and progress of the industry.

Scrupulous attention is paid to the ceremonial space, cuisine, serving vessels and sense of the seasons. The chef learned his guiding principles at a restaurant in Hozenji Alley. Entrusted with preparing the appetiser platters, he became schooled in the knowledge and aesthetics of Japanese cuisine. Aiming for artistic beauty in all aspects, he grows his own flowers to decorate the sukiya interior and collects seasonal serving vessels to delight guests. Technique, experience and sensibility all merge to create assortments of dishes that celebrate the seasons and their festivals.

The star of the menu is the bounty of the Hokuriku region. Seafood is delivered from the chef’s native Ishikawa Prefecture; seafood from every part of Ishikawa express the shifting seasons: Noto abalone, Nanao egg cockles, Chirihama oysters, and Kanaiwa male snow crab. As he cooks on an earthen charcoal brazier, the chef holds forth on their particular qualities and the passion of the fishermen with whom he does business. The restaurant name derives from the historic Higashi Chaya district of Kanazawa. From behind the counter, the chef waxes eloquent on the charms of his birthplace.

The chef spent years fine-tuning his skills in a Japanese restaurant in Hozenji Yokocho. While treasuring the lessons he learned there, he now blazes his own culinary trail. Mindful of how knife technique can affect the flavour of sashimi, he practises daily and his grounded approach to cooking is reassuring to watch. Bringing together everything he has learned over his career, he expresses it in cuisine of the ‘here and now’. Rather than just copy his mentor, the chef treads his own path in the gastronomic world.

Freshness is number one with the chef of Pierre, so he focuses on ingredients grown and raised in Japan. The menu only lists the ingredients, encouraging guests to give their imaginations free rein. Japanese seasonings such as mustard and chilli peppers mixed with yuzu zest lend a distinctive accent. French cooking techniques are married with Japanese ingredients, which are then prepared with a light touch. Spellbinding views from the spacious dining room high in a tall building add to the ambience.

Weave Kansai food culture and Chinese tradition together and you get Kamigatachuka. Ingredients from the Kinki region are prepared using Chinese and Japanese techniques; continuing the theme, items are served on Chinese and Japanese plates and bowls. Vegetarian cuisine, dubbed ‘Naniwa’ (‘vegetable garden’), brings to mind the Kawachi Plain’s fame as a vegetable-producing region. The fare is the self-expression of a chef who was born in Osaka and grew up in a family that ran a Chinese restaurant.

The menus are focused on words associated with the traditional calendar; ingredients are plotted on a map of Japan to show which items come from where. The proprietor and his cooks begin by introducing the ingredients then work as a team to prepare the meal, presenting freshly cooked aromas and flavours. Strict attention is paid to temperature and texture. The choice of serving vessels and presenting food on paper or leaf garnishes convey hallowed customs in Japanese cuisine. The flavours of the season are savoured with the calendar never far from your mind.