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Nagano

Kappo Shinsuke

割烹 しんすけ

A beacon among authentic counter restaurants – a waning style – Kappo Shinsuke is all about premium ingredients in simple preparations that strip away superfluous elements and garnishes, served straight from the chef’s hands to guests. The comfortable atmosphere created by the mother-son team puts guests at ease, allowing them to delight in exquisite flavors and the wonders of Japanese hospitality.

Right near the white walls of Nagoya's former castle town district, Kappo Shinsuke opened its doors in 2012 on the corner of a quiet residential neighborhood. Local gourmands know well this establishment run by a force in the culinary world who trained at Kyoto's renowned kappo restaurant Masuda, whose owner prided himself on serving delicious dishes to guests who truly understand flavor. Chef Shinsuke Ota carries on that spirit, securing the best ingredients each season and showcasing the best they have to offer as sashimi, tempura, grilled foods, hot pots, and other simply delicious creations.

One of the restaurant's most considerable charms is the dialogue between the chef son and service staff mother, who instantly bursts the often-uncomfortable stiffness of kappo dining with her warm, gentle style. While Chef Ota’s cuisine is clearly a hit, his mother has her fair share of fans who come time and again to enjoy heartwarming hospitality.

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CUISINE

Simple and best ingredients

In Chef Ota’s cuisine, which builds on his learning at Masuda, flavor is paramount: use only the best ingredients and do very little to them. The omakase course has a distinct seafood focus with many simple creations and unique ingredients like soft shell turtle and wild duck. It typically includes three to four types each of sashimi and tempura, a grilled dish, a refreshing vinegar dish, mackerel sushi, and Masuda-style curry. Guests are sometimes even lucky enough to choose their closing dish, which is often some delectable noodle creation. Ota approaches each seafood item and searches for its sweet spot in determining preparation, with some sashimi served fresh and others aged, but always only sliced immediately before service. Be the dishes fried or grilled; all are served like at a sushi restaurant, straight from the chef’s hands to your plate the instant they are ready.

Kobakogani crabs arrive direct from Echizen and other ports on the Japan Sea and, after being briefly boiled, are broken down into easy-to-eat pieces. Sashimi of yaitogatsuo bonito from the Goto Islands archipelago of Nagasaki has beautiful, sumptuous fat that helps the fish earn its place right behind honmaguro bluefin tuna in the exquisite fish rankings. White tilefish sashimi, also from the Goto Islands, is rested for ten days after delivery, aged to perfection, then sliced and served. Different parts of Nagasaki or Shizuoka soft shell turtle can be devoured in hot pot, deep-fried, or chargrilled creations – one specialty being soft-shell turtle in a glossy teriyaki sauce made from soy sauce, mirin, and sake. Kisu Japanese whiting fish arrives super fresh because of the restaurant's proximity to Mikawa Bay, where it is caught. It is served as tempura along with tempura of skin-on amadai tilefish.

INGREDIENTS
At Kappo Shinsuke, no effort is spared to obtain the best ingredients at peak freshness to cook up simply delicious cuisine. Egg cockles; kurumaebi prawns; mehikari fish, sometimes called big-eyed greeneye in English; and the tempura favorite kisu, or Japanese whiting, are supplied fresh to the restaurant from Mikawa Bay in Aichi Prefecture. Bonito, sea bream, and other excellent fish varieties come from the Goto Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. The chef uses seasonal vegetables from the best region at each moment in time and flavors them with carefully selected seasonings and oils from around Japan. He is incredibly proud of the water and wild mountain vegetables from his native Takayama. To complement the cuisine, local Japanese beverages include sake and whiskey, and the drinks collection extends into champagnes and wines, mainly from France.

Kappo Shinsuke cuisine #0
Kappo Shinsuke cuisine #1

CHEF

Shinsuke Ota

Shinsuke Ota was born in Gifu Prefecture in 1980. The second son of a family that runs Ota-an Tsurutsuru-tei, a long-loved restaurant in the atmospheric town of Hida Takayama, he was raised witnessing his father's unfailing dedication to soba noodles. During high school, he threw himself into wrestling, and that commitment led to his crowning as the high school champion. But when the time came to decide on a career, Ota chose the role of chef. His journey began with an introduction through an acquaintance to Kyoto’s kappo restaurant Masuda, which he joined after high school graduation. At Masuda, the guests were all connoisseurs with the highest expectations for the chef’s ingredients and cuisine. Ota says he contemplated quitting during hard times but knows that his abilities are what they are today—regarding ingredients selection, quick thinking and flexible preparation, and flavors to enthrall—precisely because he waded through those tough training years. Six years later, in December 2012, he opened Kappo Shinsuke and has just celebrated the restaurant's 10th anniversary. Ota earned one star in the 2019 Michelin Guide for Aichi, Gifu, and Mie.

VISION
Ota’s daily tasks include trips to the market to see and touch seasonal produce and further develop his knowledge of the regions supplying them. He knows that honest and sincere work enables him to produce cuisine that guests love and want to devour time and again. He plans to polish those skills further to delight guests every time and attract even more to his eatery.

PRODUCE

Wild mountain vegetables like yomogi (mugwort), tsukimiso (evening primrose), and fukinoto (butterbur shoots) are shipped directly to the restaurant after being picked in the mountains of Chef Ota’s native Hida Takayama. Their supreme quality is thanks to the trained eyes of Ota's father and brother, who have been running the family soba business for many years. At Kappo Shinsuke, they are served as tempura or in different dressings to convey their unique bitterness and wonderful aromas. Another exquisite ingredient is colvert or mallard ducks, not shot but caught in traps in the rice paddies of Niigata Prefecture. The flesh has no unpleasant odors thanks to the skillful bloodletting techniques of hunters. And grilled with only a sprinkling of salt and pepper, the dish offers an opportunity for guests to enjoy the distinctive flavor of wild game.

Course

Dinner
Shinsuke omakase course
  • The price includes our booking fee of ¥8,000
  • The price includes our booking fee of ¥8,000
¥42,500
¥42,500
Reservation Request

Nagano

Kappo Shinsuke

割烹 しんすけ

PRICE
¥42,500
~
CHILD
12
& UP
MIN GUESTS
1
PERSON
~
GENRE
Kaiseki, Takaoka
ADDRESS
1F, 3 Chome-17-2 Izumi, Higashi Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 461-0001, Japan
OPEN
6PM-7PM (Last entry)
CLOSED
Sunday
URL
NA
PHONE
N

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