OTEMACHI ASADA

Though lesser-known to visitors, the Japanese are intimately familiar with the importance of the Kaga region as a historically financially and culturally rich area. “Kagayaki”, a term meaning splendid or shimmering with beauty, recalls both this region’s famed gold production and the glittering scales of fish freshly pulled from Toyama Bay each morning. Ryotei Asada Otemachi’s kaiseki courses feature ingredients brought in directly from Kanazawa, the regional hub of the former Kaga domain. This area is rich in luxurious seafood like crab, blackthroat seaperch (nodoguro), sweet shrimp, and perfectly marbled wild yellowtail. To the south, hand-cut soba and bamboo shoots are produced next door to centuries-old washi-paper and pottery-making artisans. Ryotei Asada Otemachi brings these ingredients together in elegant kaiseki, deeply influenced by the traditional arts of Japan that developed alongside them. The five-tiered lacquerware lunch box is especially dazzling, with its bright exterior concealing a full course of old-fashioned Japanese dishes.