Without question, respiración is worth the trip to Kanazawa. To dine here is to rediscover the distinctive and innate flavors of an enormous range of produce, from earthy vegetables to sumptuous seafood and local game. The tasting course is built on a modern Spanish base, thanks to the careers of Chefs Ume and Yagi, who worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in Barcelona, but is a gastronomic experience that expresses the terroir of Ishikawa Prefecture. The fifteen dishes or so each contain ingenious and innovative touches, but Chef Ume is quick to note the lack of unusual ingredients and unconventional combinations – everything here is about familiar tastes. The emphasis is on freshness, texture and intrinsic flavor. The specialty takes local amaebi shrimp, from head to tail, and fashions it as a traditional Japanese confection. The innards are worked into a translucent sheet that envelops the flesh marinated in salt koji. The shell and tail are chopped finely and mixed with eggs to make a crispy tart base for wonderful aromatics and a texture contrast to the luscious shrimp. Gently woodfired surf clam is dressed in a butterbur shoot sauce and served with leaves from the wasabi plant, wild mountain vegetables, and iwanori seaweed.

Perfectly plump Ishikawa oysters are married with the green freshness of snap peas and Ajoblanco soup with edible chrysanthemum oil and puree. Kaga lotus root is blended with local Kanazawa Rokujo barley to form the chewy deliciousness of renkon-mochi in an umami-rich broth extracted from local Agishi turkey. The soup contains slippery nameko mushrooms, earthy burdock root, and the citrusy notes of lemongrass. Breast and thigh meat and the gizzards of turkey lovingly raised over two years are formed into dumplings and wrapped in wild wasabi greens foraged in the Hakusan area in a play on the Spanish pork skewers called pinchos montunos. A simple tomato is the palate cleanser, marinated in homemade vinegar and topped with a sasanqua flower. The rich-tasting paella allows the chef to highlight the incredible flavor and umami of Kano-gani snow crab and its innards, served with an aioli sauce. After finishing the last bite, you will be thrilled to hear you can have seconds.

Other courses may include wood-roasted tilefish or monkfish and wild game meat dishes such as local bear deer and wild boar. The produce deliveries and climate on the day determine the ingredients, cooking methods, combinations, and order of service. It is all about what foods and textures our bodies want us to partake in that season. You can always be certain there will be a stunning dessert and delectable petit fours to complete the meal.

INGREDIENTS
Over the past seven years, the chefs at respiración have continued to build a tight-knit network of suppliers, ensuring transparency and delivery of the taste of the seasons and Ishikawa’s terroir that people seek. These local producers provide seafood, herbs and farmed and wild mountain vegetables. They include individuals like Yosuke Nakata and Tomoko Uchida and farms like Kiyoshi Noen, Angato Noen, Noto Taka Farm, Kasama Noen and Horita fruit farm. respiración’s connections extend to the Noguchi Naohiko Sake Institute, Hasumidayori, Agishi Turkey, magazzino38, Kanbayashi Kanazawa Chaho tea specialists, Satoyama Biboroku, Iwata Shoten, Kakuhana Yutaka and Notojima Kaien – both makers of sea salt – Jufuku Suisan, which ensures the best seafood catches, and some of Japan’s freshest spring water from Koboike.

The sommelier Toshihiro Kanemura takes the team to further strength with his pairing selections of primarily French wines but also featuring wines from Spain and around Japan, most notably Hokuriku and even Noto Peninsula wines like the wonderful Says Farm. Pairing courses of five or even glasses are available, in addition to wines by the glass, beers, original cocktails and soft drinks.