Interview
Ken Sakamoto (Owner and chef of " cenci ") Part 2
We bring you the second part of our interview with Ken Sakamoto, the owner and chef of the Italian restaurant " cenci " in Okazaki, Kyoto. He talked about the dishes that match HOSOO styling mats, the story behind the restaurant, and the meaning of spreading Japanese technology from Kyoto.
Pairing with HOSOO styling mat
The dishes this time were made using seasonal ingredients with strong colors, so I paired them with a styling mat that matched them. I think a mat with a more subdued tone would be better suited to this combination than one with a strong light.
The green styling mat is beautiful, so I chose to pair the third dish, pasta, with a color that makes the most of it. I thought it would look good with the asparagus in the pasta, as the color would match and the yellow would stand out. The dish has a gentle feel overall, including the flavor, so I think the color of the mat underneath will really stand out.
The sweetfish is paired with gazpacho. Gazpacho usually uses acids such as vinegar, but this gazpacho does not use any vinegar at all and only uses vegetables. The aromatic vegetables are fermented at room temperature, salted, and when the acid has been released, they are put into a blender with tomatoes to create a sour aromatic vegetable gazpacho. That's why it's not watery. It's rich but not cloying, and the fermentation process brings out the flavor of the vegetables, so it's delicious. The sharp acidity comes from the acid produced by the ingredients in the ingredients themselves, and I think that's what makes it new. Rather than newness that can be seen just by looking at it, I like newness that you only notice after hearing about it.
When deep-frying sweetfish, the innards are first removed, then coated with batter and deep-fried. This allows the inside of the fish to be deep-fried as well. If the innards are deep-fried with the fish still inside, only the outside can be deep-fried, so even though the sweetfish are small, the backbone is still a concern. That's why the innards are first removed so that the fish can be deep-fried from the backbone, and the removed innards are made into a paste and then stuffed back in. This allows the sweetfish's innards to taste, they are deep-fried nicely, and they have a deliciously crispy texture when eaten.
No matter which Japanese restaurant you go to, you'll always get grilled sweetfish. I've been trying out various sweetfish dishes, but I want the sweetfish dishes I've had at " cenci " to be just as delicious as grilled sweetfish. Sweetfish is a favorite ingredient, and I want to serve it as a summer staple, but I want to create a dish that doesn't make people think, "But grilled sweetfish is better." I don't want to break down the dish of grilled sweetfish with salt and simply modify it. That's a theme I have in mind. I really like the combination of sweetfish served this time, which is not served with vinegar like salted sweetfish, but with the acidity of gazpacho.
Changes in taste create rhythm
In the case of " cenci ," since we serve courses rather than ala carte, I have a strong desire to satisfy a variety of tastes within the course. For example, when you go to a Japanese restaurant or an izakaya, I think customers order a very balanced selection of what they want to eat, such as fried food, sashimi, vinegared dishes, vegetables, and grilled fish. But a course menu is a one-way street from our perspective, so we carefully consider whether the course can be enjoyed while experiencing the changes in taste.
Even if you use sourness, don't use sourness of the same tone in succession, and don't serve dishes with dairy fats. To avoid the feeling that "all the dishes are scooped with a spoon," some dishes are served on flat plates with a fork, and some are scooped from small bowls. After a heavy dish, serve a dish with a sharp sour taste, like a vinegared dish, to reset the tongue. If you have sweetfish and gazpacho, after eating the sweetfish, the bitterness and fat of the sweetfish, which are characteristic of river fish, remain in your mouth. If you move on to the next dish with that lingering aftertaste, the next dish may be overpowered. By combining it with gazpacho, you can reset your mouth with acidity and then move on to the next dish.
I believe that in a course meal, "every dish does not need to be the fourth batter." If the course continues with " fourth batters" such as hamburger steak, fried shrimp, steak, and tuna dishes, people's appetite is satisfied too quickly and their desire for the next dish fades. That's why I try to plan the course with a clear image of "the dish I want to eat after this one." When deciding on the menu, I list seasonal ingredients such as "this one looks delicious this year" or "this one is good this time of year," and think about the image of the dish, such as "I'll use this to add some acidity" or "I'll use this to add a strong flavor." I often include dishes with a strong dashi flavor, so I think of "I'll make this ingredient into a soup dish." That's how I put together the course.
The expression "restaurant"
Before opening " cenci ", I felt the limitations of expressing everything through food alone. I think it's impossible to express everything through just the dishes, especially in a restaurant like ours, which charges a certain amount of money. When customers enter the restaurant, walk in, sit down, and see an empty table, something amazing is happening on the table. Wherever you look in the restaurant, from the dishes to the architecture, there are things that make you think "it's nice" all over the space. In this way, the food comes out in a never-ending stream, and if you recognize the plate that the food is on, you'll get excited just by noticing it. The plate is filled with ingredients that are filled with the thoughts of various producers and people in the primary industry, and when you eat it, you can properly taste the ingredients.
In that sense, I have a lot of things I can explain if asked, but I don't explain everything from the beginning. For example, "Actually, this meat is cooked in five or six different stages." I don't think it's necessary to give that kind of information up front, but there are a lot of things I can say if asked. This doesn't just apply to ingredients, but also to dishes, cutlery, tables and chairs. I think restaurants are a place where you can increase your knowledge and express a variety of things.
Sending out Japanese technology from Kyoto
" Cenci " is celebrating its seventh year, and I feel that the store, including the garden, has grown along with the encounters with various people, and the atmosphere is becoming better. I have recently come to understand that everything is made possible by the connections between people. No matter how delicious an ingredient is, if I am not on the same wavelength as the person handling it, I will not use it. I think that is very important.
I met Hosoo-san through a connection in Kyoto, and we have worked together on various projects and cooked together, which I think is very meaningful. Traditional industries must be passed on to the future. The same goes for primary industry farmers, but Japan has many wonderful techniques that we can be proud of, but I think it's a shame that the culture is fading because we are not good at communicating them to the world, or because we have too much respect for the West. If " cenci " can successfully incorporate such Japanese techniques into the world of Western cuisine, there is a possibility that they can be conveyed to people from overseas when they come. Especially since it's Kyoto, there are many inbound tourists. It is very important to communicate Japanese techniques in such a place, and I think it is meaningful to do so in order to connect Japanese techniques to the future.
Click here for " Part 1 "
Ken Sakamoto
Born in Kyoto in 1975 , he discovered the deliciousness of Italian cuisine while traveling in Europe while attending university, and decided to become a chef. After graduating in 1999 , he began his career at trattoria Il Pappalardo in Higashiyama Shichijo, learning cooking under chef Yasuhiro Sasajima who was the chef at the time. In 2002 , following Chef Sasajima's independence, he moved to Il Ghiottone, where he created new Italian cuisine using Japanese ingredients. After nine years as head chef, he went independent in 2014 and opened Cenci in Okazaki. He serves Italian cuisine that brings out the best in the ingredients and conveys the passion of the food producers in a tasteful space, from tableware to architecture.