Connecting local ingredients and culture through skill
"Nippon Cuisine: Gourmet Collection," is a new addition to the HOSHINOYA Tokyo Dining. Nippon Cuisine, with a focus on fish and seasonal ingredients cooked with French culinary style, has been evolving since its debut in 2016 when HOSHINOYA Tokyo opened in Otemachi. Ingredients rooted in each region gathered in Edo, where its food culture developed through the combination of regional cooking techniques. Today, with the welcoming of Executive Chef Ryosuke Oka, this Edo food culture will be reflected in the meal as Oka pays homage to the high-quality ingredients from all over Japan and the food culture that has been nurtured in that region. A new "Nippon Cuisine" with the techniques and unique interpretations he has developed in the French culinary world can be experienced at HOSHINOYA Tokyo.
Background
With the idea of "creating dishes that can only be made locally," Executive Chef Ryosuke Oka has been creating dishes using local ingredients and expressing the wisdom of predecessors passed down through traditional cooking methods. In the course of creating dishes in Tokyo, he became interested in and inspired by the sankin-kotai system of the Edo era, in which good ingredients and food culture from all over Japan came together as people came and went, and decided to advance the dinner course at HOSHINOYA Tokyo into a course meal with a focus on the food culture of different parts of Japan per season. Oka's creative interpretation of food culture that has been nurtured in a specific region of Japan and his skill and sensibilities that he cultivated in the world of French cuisine will open new doors to Nippon Cuisine of HOSHINOYA Tokyo, a one-of-a-kind dining experience.
Nippon Cuisine: Gourmet Collection
In Tokyo, where Japanese gourmet food is gathered, a new dinner course that combines the food culture nurtured in a specific region of Japan with the culinary techniques of French cuisine is available. While using French techniques, a dish made with rice, a staple food in Japan, is incorporated and various elements of culture will be introduced as well for a dining experience only at HOSHINOYA Tokyo.
Executive Chef Oka’s Thoughts
Oka has always looked carefully at the unique food culture that is rooted in a specific region and incorporated the essence he found into his dishes. When he relocated his base to metropolitan Tokyo, where there are more dining choices than in rural areas, he was interested in the development of food in the Edo era while exploring the cuisine that could only be offered in HOSHINOYA Tokyo, and he wanted to create a cuisine unique to Tokyo that brings together the best of Japan, rather than focusing on one area. Rather than recreating the cuisine of Edo, which can be said to be the culmination of Japanese food, Oka reflects the current era in the historical background and the wisdom and ideas of predecessors, bringing new flavors to the course.
Examples from Nippon Cuisine: Gourmet Collection
The first Nippon Cuisine: Gourmet Collection is influenced by the following three Prefectures: Yamagata, Shimane and Nagasaki.
Starters
The course begins with a plate that focuses on soba (buckwheat noodles), sushi, and tempura, which are iconic dishes of Edo. The subtle sweetness of the tart dough and the elegant saltiness of caviar make this a well-balanced dish.
Omizuke (Yamagata Prefecture)
Omizuke is a specialty of Yamagata, a type of Japanese pickle using local greens and it is usually pickled using soy sauce and shiso (Japanese basil). Confit of biwa trout, a species native to Lake Biwa, will be combined with Omizuke and drizzled with a creamy sauce.
Hosho-yaki (Shimane Prefecture)
Hosho-yaki is a dish in which seafood and mushrooms are wrapped in hosho paper and baked. At our dining, thick and moderately fatty cutlass fish is combined with scallop mousse and a generous amount of matsutake mushrooms, wrapped in hosho paper, and then baked. Whipped sauce using green yuzu with a hint of crushed almonds for extra texture is served on top. A dish to enjoy the fragrant aroma of matsutake mushrooms.
Karakai-ni (Yamagata Prefecture) & Kakuni-manju (Nagasaki Prefecture)
Usually boiled in soy sauce and sugar, this Karakai-ni slowly boils the dried fins of the stingrays in red wine for a deeper flavor. By pairing it with pig's trotters marinated in Vin Rouge wine, the umami flavor of each creates harmony with each bite. When wrapped in the accompanying pao bread, it transforms into a kakuni-manju from Nagasaki. You can experience the fusion of the food culture of Yamagata and Nagasaki in this one dish.
Uzume-meshi (Shimane Prefecture)
During the Edo era, when people were forced to live a simple and economical life, people still wanted to eat gourmet food so they hid colorful ingredients under the rice. Soup using soft-shelled turtle as the main source of broth envelops the rice and ingredients, where a dash of aromatic truffles serves an accent.
Executive Chef of HOSHINOYA Tokyo, Ryosuke Oka
Born in 1985 in Shiga Prefecture. Since 2005, Oka has trained in French cuisine at Kobe Kitano Hotel, Restaurant Homage, and Pierre Gagnaire. He entered Hoshino Resorts in 2016, starting his career at L’Hotel Hiei as an Executive Chef and then transferred to Sonore at Oirase Keiryu Hotel. He has been appointed the Executive Chef of HOSHINOYA Tokyo since May 1, 2023. Based on the idea of "creating dishes that can only be created locally," Oka has utilized local ingredients and expressed the wisdom of our predecessors that has been passed down through traditional cooking methods in his own way.
Overview of Nippon Cuisine: Gourmet Collection
Price: 33,880 JPY per person (includes tax and service charge)
Reservations: Required
Available to: guests staying at HOSHINOYA Tokyo
Others: The menu is subject to change depending on availability of ingredients
Overview of HOSHINOYA Tokyo
Address: 1-9-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, 100-0004
Number of Rooms: 84
Check-in: 3:00 pm/Check-out: 12:00 pm
Price: 112,000 JPY per night per room (includes tax and service charge, excludes meals)
Directions: Approximately 2 minutes by walk from Otemachi Station or 10 minutes by walk from Tokyo Station
About HOSHINOYA Brand
Luxury hotel embodying the true characteristics of land, history, and culture
HOSHINOYA is an accommodation with distinct themes, conceptualized from each location's land, history, and culture. Woven into these distinct themes is our attention to detail in every aspect from the design to hospitality; contributing to the creation of a one-of-a-kind world of HOSHINOYA. Enrich the heart with the epiphanies of travel through a unique stay experience.
About Hoshino Resorts
Hoshino Resorts was first established as a Japanese inn/ryokan in 1914 in Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture before it began the operation of other resorts in Japan. Today, it has evolved into a highly influential hotel management company and is run by 4th-generation family member Yoshiharu Hoshino. Providing a unique experience focused on the local charms of each destination and a high level of omotenashi, Japanese-style hospitality, the company has expanded rapidly out of Karuizawa since 2001 and now operates more than 60 accommodations both in and outside Japan with one of the following categories: luxury hotel brand “HOSHINOYA,” hot spring ryokan brand “KAI,” countryside resort hotel brand “RISONARE,” city tourism hotel brand “OMO,” free-spirited hotel brand “BEB,” or other unique lodgings.
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