Shizuoka

Onjaku

茶懐石　温石

A proud native to the port-city of Yaizu, Chef Daigo Sugiyama’s exquisite kaiseki cuisine reflects his obsession with local seafood. Using fresh catches from nearby bays, his signature dishes from grilled kinmedai to Japanese jack mackerel rolls are works of craftsmanship. Now considered one of the top three restaurants in Shizuoka along with Tempura Naruse and Sumiyaki Unagi Shun, Chakaiseki Onjaku promises a warm and relaxing kaiseki experience without all the formalities.

Chakaiseki Onjaku is located in the coastal city of Yaizu in central Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is famous as one of Japan’s major fishing ports, bringing in top volumes of tuna, bonito and mackerel. With direct access to fresh catches as well as a variety of fish and agricultural products, the restaurant offers some of the best seasonal produce the region has to offer.

Taking over the restaurant his father opened 45 years ago, Sugiyama renovated the Chakaiseki Onjaku in 2019 to create an ideal space for his guests. Set inside a traditional Japanese home, the new interior, designed by Yukio Hashimoto, features an open counter and intricate wooden details that create an inviting atmosphere. The view of the little Japanese garden from the window shows the passing of the seasons.

The name "Onjaku" reflects the idea that the cuisine shouldn’t be about technique but about making food that warms the heart and makes people happy, the chef says. Standing behind the counter, he entertains the guests warmly as he serves the dishes as soon as they are ready. Using the grill at the counter, he cooks his signature kinmedai (splendid alfonsino) right in front of the guests. Trained at a fishmonger before becoming a chef, he handles fish with such swiftness and skill.

To ensure the quality of his cuisine, he believes tools play an important role. For delicate ichiban dashi broth, he uses an enameled cast iron pot to prevent flavors from mixing. For soup stocks, he prefers an iron pot that helps remove the bitterness. He’s also inherited his father’s collection of crockery. “I order some pieces myself from artists like Juro Saito, but they end up overlapping with what we already have because my father and I have similar tastes,” he says with a laugh. Each dish is presented with a beautiful composition of shapes and colors.

Obsession with local seafood

Served over the counter, the meal at Chakaiseki Onjaku is relaxed and far from the traditional formality. Centered around fresh seafood caught in the local Yaizu bays, the omakase menu takes you through about a dozen courses. The meal always includes the day’s special dish, which uses fresh local catches like Japanese spiny lobster and akaza-ebi langoustine brought by Sasue Maeda Fish Shop.

The Japanese jack mackerel roll, or kinuta-maki, shows off the quality of the fish with its rich flavor. In the summer, the oily fish is wrapped with a refreshing cucumber. In the winter, it’s served with pickled daikon radish.

Ebodai (rudderfish), often considered a type of zako or “trash” fish, is turned into an exquisite kaiseki course. While it’s common to deep fry the fish, he quickly boils and steams it for a delicate texture. The dish is served with chrysanthemum leaves, egg yolk soy sauce and wasabi.

The day’s soup is shiro amadai (white horsehead) and bamboo shoots. The stock uses a blend of red kelp from Rishiri and two types of bonito flakes to balance the bold flavor of the fish. He also pasteurized the fish in the stock to bring out extra umami.

The kinmedai uroko-yaki, or grilled splendid alfonsino, is a signature dish that must not be missed. The fish is cooked with its scales intact. Scorched over the charcoal at a specific angle, the skin is browned and crispy while the inside is rare and moist. Served with green onions and soy sauce infused with Japanese sansho peppercorn, the flavors are simply superb.

Grilled squid is served with rape blossoms and homemade mustard. The squid’s skin is left on for a deeper flavor. The arms, or geso, are seasoned with mirin and soy sauce. Sprinkled with a pinch of squid ink salt, the umami deepens with every bite. Fluffy rice cooked in a donabe pot is covered with a carpet of fried sakura shrimp. The sweet and roasty aroma fills the air.

Desserts such as chrysanthemum leaves mochi and roasted walnut mochi are made fresh at the restaurant. To conclude the meal, Sugiyama serves tea that he’s prepared himself to show his appreciation for the guests.

INGREDIENTS
Since his grandfather’s generation, the Sugiyama family has procured fish from the local Sasue Maeda Fish Store. Since taking over Chakaiseki Onjaku, Sugiyama has been working closely with the current owner, Naoki Maeda, to promote the quality of Yaizu seafood. Their collaboration makes it possible for Sugiyama to serve some of his signature dishes like the kinmedai because there’s only a limited amount caught from the local bay.

Ingredients besides fish are also sourced locally. The Koshihikari and Nikomaru rice come from Makinohara. Bamboo shoots are harvested between December and March in Fujiwara. High-quality ma-kombu comes from Rishiri. The chef likes to use a variety of salts for different ingredients such as Himalayan pink salt for white fish, sundried arashio salt for blue fish and seaweed salt for soups.

CHEF

Daigo Sugiyama

Daigo Sugiyama was born in 1984 into a family of chefs. His great-grandfather ran a soba restaurant, which his father inherited and turned into a kaiseki restaurant. From an early age, Sugiyama would watch his father in the kitchen with a desire to become a chef himself someday. While still a high school student, he began studying the traditional tea ceremony. He also worked at Sasue Maeda Fish Store, learning how to properly wash and handle fish.

After graduating from high school, he spent six years training at Wako, a top kaiseki restaurant in Mejiro where his father also studied decades before. At the age of 24, he returned to Chakaiseki Onjaku to work alongside his father. He later took on the restaurant, which he continues to run today.

VISION
“We want to continue conveying the charm of Shizuoka through our cuisine at Chakaiseki Onjaku,” Sugiyama says. “I’d like to learn more about the local culture and traditions to help tell the story of the region.”

SAKE

To complement the different flavors of the cuisine, Sugiyama stocks a collection of about 20 different sake. He curates unique pairings based on the guest’s preferences and the day’s menu. Some of his favorites include Isojiman, Hatsukame, Kikuyoi, Shidaizumi, Suginishiki and Morimoto. Isojiman, a local Yaizu brewer, makes an original Junmai Daiginjo bottle for the restaurant. It has a gorgeous and smooth note that goes beautifully with Japanese flavors.