The Tasting Panel magazine

September 2010

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ASIA Saké to Me Chef Fumio Kondo cuts his famous sweet potato. Kondo The “locavore” concept doesn’t work for serious Japanese chefs. Rather than using local ingredients, chefs such as Fumio Kondo search for the very best from all over Japan and beyond. He sources corn and asparagus from Hokkaido, for example, and shiitake mushrooms from Iwate. This two-star tempura restaurant, on the ninth floor of a building in Ginza, is most famous for its sweet potato, which is served in a large cylindrical and unadorned slice. All of the tempura is fried in special sesame oil. The counter seats 12. Expect to spend about $150 here. Every month, a new ten-course menu is unveiled. Behind the small counter, a quartet of chefs prepares the intricate food. My most recent meal featured elegant seafood “spring rolls” with tomato; sea bass with eggplant and Iberico ham; summer vegetables jelly and pumpkin soup with sea urchin; ayu and foie gras risotto; chilled pasta with octopus and sea grapes; and grilled beef with summer vegetables. Yonemura has one star and seats 12 at the counter. The restaurant is located on the fourth floor of a Ginza building. Lunch is around $100; dinner closer to $150. Summer vegetables jelly and pumpkin soup with sea urchin at Yonemura. Yonemura This creative restaurant is a branch of Masayasu Yonemura’s Kyoto restaurant. The chef’s unique style combines Japanese and French techniques. 100 / the tasting panel / september 2010 Waketokuyama A rustic, modern restaurant that is my favorite example of the precise, meticulous contemporary kaiseki style. In the nine-course meal, I counted 56 different ingredients, all beautifully show- cased. The restaurant is on two floors, with counter service on both. A specialty is tender stir-fried abalone with kohlrabi, corn, scallions and ginger topped with slivers of dried seaweed (nori). I loved the eggplant and noodles in broth, served in a hollowed-out eggplant half. This is imaginative and exceptional food. Expect to spend around $200 here. The Japan Saké Challenge was held again in Tokyo on July 12, 2010. One-hundred and forty sakes were submitted. As is typical of saké judgings, the bottles were divided into groupings by type. The sakés were bagged, lined up and one ceramic cup was provided for tasting each one. For those squeamish about using a com- munal cup, individual wine glasses were provided. Tasters included four western- ers—Michel Bettane from Paris, Steven Spurrier from London, myself and saké expert John Gauntner—and six local sake judges. This year, unlike previous judgings, Western and Japanese judges generally agreed on the winners. Below are the top sakes from the 2010 Challenge. —A.D.B. Best Daiginjo/Ginjo Kizakura Dai-Ginjo Best Junmai Ginjo Densho Gekkeikan Junmai-Ginjo Best Junmai Tokubetsu Junmai Best Junmai Daiginjo Kiwamihijiri Omachimai Junmai Daiginjo Tobindori Best Kimoto/Yamahai Born Kichibee Gold Konteki Dai-Ginjo Gold Daiginjo Chokai Gold Nanbu-Bijin Daiginjo Gold Yukino Bosha Akita Sakekomachi Shikomi Gold Koshinohomare Daiginjyou Gold Daiginjyo Hoyo Yamadanishiki Gold Fukuju Junmai Ginjo IMAGE: Waketokuyama_2 CAPTION: Kaiseki at Waketokuyama. Peeled eggplant, stalk of taro and sweet green pepper with walnut and sesame vinegar sauce; vinegared hair- tail and diced white gourd with jellied Michel Bettane and Steven Spurrier get serious about saké.

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