Narisawa: Where Foraged Flavors Become Culinary Art
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Tucked away in an unassuming nook of the elegant neighborhood of Aoyama, Narisawa (stylized as NARISAWA) is an experimental fine dining restaurant acclaimed for its innovative and cerebral approach to sustainable cuisine. Narisawa's omakase-style menu fuses a variety of culinary techniques with the Japanese concept of satoyama. Traditionally, satoyama refers to rural landscapes where humans live in harmony with nature; in recent years, it has come to symbolize sustainability, a deep respect for the earth and the integration of humans and the natural world.
Established by Chef Yoshihiro Narisawa in 2003, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant has earned international recognition for its quality, innovation and commitment to environmentally conscious gourmet dining — securing a Michelin Green Star, 14 consecutive years on the World's Best Restaurants list and numerous other accolades.
Chef Narisawa
A Pioneer of Fine Dining
Narisawa grew up in the restaurant industry; it was a path he always wanted to follow. 'My family ran a restaurant, and I was constantly surrounded by delicious food bringing smiles to people's faces,' he says. 'I knew I wanted to inspire the same joy as a chef.'
The chef's journey to become a master of his craft wasn't a straightforward one. Though Tokyo is today seen as one of the world's most glittering culinary capitals, with a whopping 183 Michelin-starred eateries, the city's fine dining scene didn't always possess its current abundance of cultural influences. At just 19 years old, Narisawa was among a group of bright-eyed Japanese chefs who ventured abroad during the bubble economy to train under foreign connoisseurs. What they brought back formed the basis for the explosion of tastes we associate with Tokyo today.
'I started my training in traditional Japanese cuisine before heading to Europe, where I felt I could gain more insight into the intricate, storied sphere of fine dining,' Narisawa explains. Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, he studied under some of the world's most revered chefs — including culinary legends Paul Bocuse and Joël Robuchon.
In Harmony With Land and Sea
Returning to Japan in 1996 after a transformative tenure in France, Italy and Switzerland, Narisawa opened his first French-inspired restaurant, La Napoule, in Kanagawa. It was only after he established his eponymous restaurant in Tokyo — originally named Les Créations de Narisawa — that the chef encountered satoyama culture and began to develop his signature culinary philosophy.
While hand-selecting ingredients for his restaurant menu at a mountaintop farm in Nagano Prefecture, Narisawa was struck by the incredible quality of vegetables grown at an altitude of 1,000 meters, which some might assume to be unfavorable conditions. 'The location experiences drastic temperature changes between day and night, but this uncompromising climate is what cultivates the rich, uniquely delicious flavors of its produce,' Narisawa explains. This experience was formative for him, revealing the profound and complex relationship between the forces of nature and his work as a chef. 'I gained a new appreciation for the tremendous impact of the natural environment on our ingredients.'
As Narisawa points out, 70% of the Japanese archipelago is covered in forests, meaning that space for cultivation is limited. As such, the people of Japan have always had a deep respect for natural resources and seasonal shifts, using only what they need. Narisawa defines this way of thinking as the heart of satoyama culture. 'Through our innovative satoyama cuisine, we pay homage to the wisdom of our ancestors,' he says.
Narisawa Dessert dish 'Camellia and Koji,' which follows the ancestral technique of harnessing camellia ash to cultivate koji mold.
The Art of Satoyama
Driven by his deep respect for the natural world and a commitment to local ingredients, Narisawa is always exploring new ways to showcase foraged elements in a way that amplifies their inherent flavors. His culinary creations — inventive, intricate and at times astonishingly complex — aim to convey the spirit of nature through a thoughtful harmony of taste and presentation.
For instance, the iconic Satoyama Scenery and Essence of the Forest dish uses various wild plants gathered in Ishikawa Prefecture, alongside other traditional Japanese ingredients, to create a gastronomic landscape: 'moss,' 'earth' and 'branches' composed of ingredients like dried tofu residue, bamboo charcoal and candied burdock root. Narisawa extracts the aroma and flavor of thinly shaved cedar and oak wood — a process similar to making dashi soup stock — to create the titular Essence of the Forest, served in a cup on the side.
What is truly striking about Narisawa's vision of sustainability is that it extends beyond his culinary philosophy. The chef has been vocal about maintaining a sustainable work-life balance at his restaurant, going against the notoriously long hours and stressful lifestyles of restaurant staff around the world. 'We want to ensure that our staff can work in good health and balance work with family life,' he says. 'We have a closing time of 8 p.m. and have an efficient clean-up process to encourage staff to get proper rest.'
This humanistic approach to management ultimately echoes the chef's core objective for the restaurant, which inspired his cooking journey all those years ago. 'We want guests who come to our restaurant to enjoy their meal and leave feeling happy. Simply put, I want to delight people through delicious food,' he states.
More Info
You can learn more about Chef Narisawa's food journey and recipes in his book
Satoyama
, photographed by Sergio Coimbra and published by Taschen.
Narisawa reservations are
available online
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