TONES OSAKA

The tempura fried by the chef as his heart dictates comes out refined. To bring the flavour of carefully selected ingredients, the main oil of choice is Taihaku sesame oil. The coating is infused with bubbles, giving it a light texture. In a distinctive presentation style, seafood and vegetables that work well together are served in alternating pairs. The final dish is the guest’s choice of tendon, tempura over rice; tencha, tendon steeped in roasted green tea; or tenmusu, onigiri filled with shrimp tempura. The chef does not neglect training the next generation, either, entrusting understudie

The chef interprets the seasons through kaiseki, adding twists and tricks that make the cuisine his own. To express each season, appetisers are accompanied by leaves collected on hill and dale and a slim strip of paper is inscribed with a seasonal phrase. White rice, cooked in clay pots, is specially selected and treated. Rice grown in serpentinite soil, with its rich mineral content, is seasoned with salt and soy sauce to bring out umami and flavour. In a unique touch, scorched rice is served like a rice cracker. The basics of Japanese cuisine are safely guarded, yet imagination has room to r

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.

Simple fare that speaks straight to the heart is the objective here. Fritters are deep-fried one by one in a quest for that instant of perfect flavour. Pasta is interpreted through Japanese ingredients. Japanese sea bream grilled in pie crust ventures outside the Italian cuisine box. The name of the house is an amalgam of the first letter of Yamamoto, the chef’s surname, plus ‘unico’, Italian for ‘unique’. Free imagination lends a unique spin to natural flavours.

The chef began to specialise in tempura when, as an apprentice at a Japanese restaurant, he was placed in charge of the fryer. The tatami-matted interior recalls ozashiki-tempura, the practice of frying tempura in front of guests seated on tatami mats around a low table . Having diligently studied flavour in Tokyo and technique in Osaka, the chef adopts ‘taking the best from east and west’ as his theme. Tempura pieces are fried in sesame oil and served with warm dipping sauce. Pairing wine with tempura is advocated here, as the acidity of champagne and white wine brings out the flavour of the

In a previous life, this was a sushi shop. The second-generation owner-chef, preparing food at the counter left over from earlier days, apprenticed at a wholesaler, then at a ryotei, before hanging out his shop curtain as a fugu (puffer fish) chef. Wild-caught tora fugu arrive from Shimonoseki. Fugu sashimi arranged in a floral pattern called botan-zukuri is arrayed on celadon plates, and chirinabe hotpots followed by zosui rice gruel are prepared by the book. Patiently aged homemade ponzu sauce, appetisers of fugu skin or jellied fugu, and stone-grilled fugu show off the chef’s individuality

The chef never forgets his connection to his apprentice days. From his two mentors, he learned the basics of Japanese cuisine and the spirit of delighting diners. Years of experience are reflected in skilful work at counter and grill, convivial conversation, and creative food preparation. The restaurant’s name, Kitagawa, includes characters meaning ‘many’ and ‘joy’. We sense a strange connection between things no one man could accomplish alone.