[WEB ARTICLE] Kimata Syoya (JO1) - Elle Gourmet (6 October 2022) regular column

[dreamweavernyx]

On this new issue of Kimata's sushi column we have Ren as the guest at a really, really fancy sushi restaurant!! They eat some real good sushi, and there's a bonus talk about the arena tour too ^^

If you'd like to follow along, the original article is here.

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(Part 1) JO1’s Kimata Syoya heads to a new-wave Edomae sushi restaurant with Kawashiri Ren! | Real Thoughts on Kimata Sushi Vol. 5

The regular column with rave reviews, brought to you from the foremost frontier of sushi trends!

This is the regular column “Real Thoughts on Kimata Sushi” by JO1’s Kimata Syoya, who holds an incredible love for sushi. In this popular series, he’ll select one member per issue, and eat delicious sushi with them at a sushi restaurant that’s in season while having a heart-to-heart talk with them.

This time round, he’s with Kawashiri Ren, the disciplined performance leader who drives the group forward; the two of them are headed for a slightly dressy new-wave Edomae-style sushi restaurant in Azabu-juban. We’ve got close coverage of these two as they have an adults’ night out at the counter!

*Note from the magazine: The items in the course will change according to the season.

[Photo 1]

Headed to a sophisticated restaurant with a fully-prepared Kawashiri Ren

The guest in this issue is the first ever older-brother guest in this regular column, Kawashiri Ren. Within the group, he’s the 2nd oldest, and he also serves as the group’s performance leader who brings the team together… We wondered if that would add a layer of tension to the heart-to-heart talk, but just as we thought that, the two of them did this classic move at the entrance to the restaurant. It was the start of a wonderful time.

[Photo 2]

Visiting Azabu’s “Sushi Yoshikawa”!

The restaurant the two of them have come to is “Sushi Yoshikawa”, which opened in Azabu in March 2021. The head of the “Yoshikawa” brand, Yoshikawa Takamasa-san, is a man who apprenticed under his sushi-chef father at the age of 13, and also gained experience in French cooking before returning to the world of sushi. Working off of traditional edomae sushi as a base, he goes one step further with his sushi by adding Western elements and culinary technique; combinedwith the seasonal ingredients used, this innovative sushi restaurant presents a feast for both the eyes and the tongue.

[Photo 3]

Cross-talk

Kimata: Today, we’ve got with us Ren-kun, who loves sushi the second-most (places emphasis on this) after me!

Kawashiri: Yep, yep, I’m definitely second to Syoya. I’ve been looking forward to this day for forever~! I was just telling Syoya, “is it okay that we get to do something like this for work?” (laughs)

Kimata: Right? (laughs) Ren-kun, when was the last time you ate sushi?

Kawashiri: It was probably around a month or so ago. Syoya, I usually eat sushi with you during our lunch breaks when we have dance practice, right?

Kimata: That’s right. Uh, I ate sushi the day before yesterday.

Kawashiri: Ahaha! You really love it, huh.

[Photo 4]

Kimata: I checked out this place, “Sushi Yoshikawa”-san, on the internet, and I thought that the ambience of this restaurant would suit Ren-kun~

Kawashiri: Ah, no, really, to have been invited by that famous “Real Thoughts on Kimata Sushi” is an honour (laughs). I usually go to more casual sushi places, so I’d really wanted to go to a more sophisticated sushi-counter restaurant like this. Thank you, Syoya.

[Photo 5]

Kimata: Ren-kun, what (kind of sushi) do you like?

Kawashiri: From my seat here I can see a really delicious-looking sea urchin… I really love sea urchin, so I’ve had my eye on that ever since earlier. Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to this since this morning!

Kimata: We’re eating at the counter today, so we only have attractive-looking things sitting in front of us today. There’s shrimp, and something that looks like french toast? I’m so curious about what that is. Today’s restaurant is new-wave edomae sushi, so it seems like the sushi is made using a wide variety of techniques, so I’m really looking forward to it.

[Photo 6]

Kimata: Ren-kun, within the group you’re the second-oldest, right. I figured you’d suit this type of grown-up, sophisticated restaurant.

Kawashiri: Grown-up, huh… Well, I guess the part of me that watches the other members be rowdy and thinks how cute, they’re like children is grown-up (laughs). I end up thinking that everyone else is still really energetic~

Kimata: So that’s how you become a grown-up, huh…

Kawashiri: Well, I do fool around with the rest of you from time to time, though.

Kimata: I do think that you’re grown-up, when I see you watching me be rowdy! Maybe the part of me that feels that way is grown-up, too.

Kawashiri: Hahaha!

[Photo 7]

Starting off with a “cheers” with moringa tea!

Kimata: Today, after this, we’ve got an intense practice session, so let’s go for the healthy option, tea (laughs). Since Ren-kun, you can’t hold your alcohol, right.

Kawashiri: I’m curious about this “moringa tea”.

Chef: This is a tea made from the leaves of the moringa tree, which is a superfood; the taste of the tea is intense, rather similar to vegetable juice. It’s very good for your body.

Both: Then we’ll take the moringa tea!

Kimata: Cheers!

Kawashiri: Chee~rs! It’s delicious, isn’t it. Somehow, the taste is soothing. (laughs)

[Photo 8]

Kimata: Today, we’ll be having the “Head Chef’s Recommendation Course”, which is packed full (of food) such as sashimi platters, grilled items, nigiri sushi, maki sushi rolls and the special of the day. Head Chef Yoshikawa also underwent French culinary training, and it seems that he’ll use those French techniques along the way.

Kawashiri: That’s interesting! I can see the prepared ingredients from the counter, so I’m excited to see how they’ll end up on our plates~

Kimata: It’s also fun to be able to watch the chef cut up the fish with his knife. I usually buy raw fish by the block, and imitate sushi chefs at home by smoothly cutting through the blocks with my knife, but I can never pull it off smoothly. I really want to go out and buy a good-quality knife. But you need skill in order to cut fish well.

Kawashiri: Ahaha! You do that kind of stuff?

[Photo 9]

An ingenuous 3-item sashimi platter

Kimata: First up is the 3-item sashimi platter!

Chef: Here we have the fatty tuna belly with wasabi, fried seared katsuo (skipjack tuna), and scallop with sweet sauce.

Kawashiri: Wow~

Kimata: The tuna belly is delicious! The wasabi on the top totally doesn’t go up your nose, and the aroma of it wins out (over the spice). I think even (Ohira) Shosei, who hates wasabi, can eat this. I’d love for Shosei to come to know the deliciousness of wasabi through this.

Kawashiri: You talked only about the wasabi and not about the sashimi… (laughs). Why are there small cuts made in the flesh of the tuna?

Kimata: Isn’t it to allow the soy sauce to seep through? It’s a common fact of sushi restaurants.

Kawashiri: A common fact of the sushi world! (laughs)

Chef: The tuna we use is bluefin tuna, but we only use the part of the belly that lies closest to the tuna’s head, which is the fattiest part.

Kawashiri: Indeed, it really melts away the moment you put it in your mouth. That’s why even if you add more wasabi, it’ll be overpowered by the fattiness of the tuna.

[Photo 10]

Chef: The surface of the katsuo is slightly fried. It’s a fried, seared katsuo, and the meat inside is cured.

Kimata: Eh! It’s broiled?

Chef: And on top of it is a tomato sauce.

Kawashiri: That’s a display of French skills. It’s a slightly spicy tomato sauce, isn’t it.

[Photo 11]

Kimata: Having this fried is really a first for me… And the katsuo really goes with the tomato sauce. Isn’t the colour just amazing as well? The contrast between the cooked and the uncooked portions.

Kawashiri: Ah, that’s a smell I love… Somehow, it’s a little nostalgic, too. But when I put it into my mouth, it’s a little warm.

Kimata: It’s amazing!

[Photo 12]

Kawashiri: Next up is the scallop, right?

Chef: The scallop has been lightly cured.

Kimata: Cured ♡

Head Chef: On the top of the cured (scallop) is a little bit of sweet sauce; please enjoy it together with the aroma of yuzu.

Kawashiri: I’ll dig in!

Kimata: It’s really thick. I’m having to chew it more than usual! The texture is great!

Kawashiri: The scallop is really crunchy. You can really tell that there’s a party going on in your mouth. It’s like it’s dancing? The sweet sauce is a good accent.

Kimata: It’s dancing, it’s dancing!

[Photo 13]

Kimata: Nigiri sushi is nice and all, but I really love these kinds of sashimi and bar snacks… (moved)

Chef: Will you like anything as long as there’s fish in it?

Kimata: There’s no fish I dislike. I love them all. Ah, speaking of which, it hasn’t appeared yet, right? The main star of “Real Thoughts on Kimata Sushi”, the nigiri sushi, hasn’t made its appearance. We’re still at Act One! We’ve just begun. I heard this was a new-wave place, and the genre feels kind of fresh.

Chef: We make our business in bringing in new things, you know.

Kimata: Was this something you thought of on your own?

[Photo 14]

Chef: Head Chef Yoshikawa has experience in French cooking, and so naturally he also passed those skills down to us, and as a result of that we do come up with “original” items. This is still Edomae-style sushi, but we’re aiming to present a slightly different, non-traditional new style of sushi.

Kimata: Act One, the sashimi, is this (good)~! I wonder how the course will progress from here on out (laughs).

Kawashiri: Ahaha!

Chef: Thank you very much. The appetisers will be these three items, and we will proceed next to the grilled items.

Part 2 >>