With a foundation of the precision techniques of Japanese cuisine, the dining experience at Yamazaki is the perfect manifestation of the chef’s experience in diverse genres and his rich, innate sensibility. He does not set out to be an eccentric in Japanese cuisine but rather to serve clear and approachable food and create dishes that no one else makes. As the flow of the meal is paramount, Yamazaki makes sure not to repeat ingredients or techniques and to calibrate the methods and acid levels from one dish to the next. There is no sashimi or hassun dish from kaiseki cuisine here; the specialty is chargrilled softshell turtle.

The chef's tasting course of nine to ten dishes begins with steamed rice, a soup dish, and a vinegar dish before advancing to grilled and fried dishes, the softshell turtle signature, and a meat dish. It changes pace again to close in order of soba buckwheat noodles, rice, and ice cream. It is a tradition in Japanese meals to begin with a mouthful of rice, thus putting something hearty in the belly of hungry diners. Yamazaki serves steamed glutinous rice with caviar, tempura of kisu white fish, fava beans, and Shimane prefecture ita-wakame seaweed sheets gently roasted over charcoals. The vinegar dish may feature Ise-ebi lobster cured in kombu kelp before broiling and filled with a reduction of the lobster’s innards, popularly referred to as miso. It is topped with wakame, butterbur, and shiso flowers. The lidded bowl dish on a recent spring day highlighted green peas, hamaguri clams and tamago-tofu savory steamed egg custard. Amadai tilefish in a glutinous rice flour batter is deep-fried and topped with a thickened sauce containing shiso flowers atop a hidden bed of chargrilled canola flowers for a true taste of spring. By chargrilling torigai egg cockles, Yamazaki accentuates their umami and sweetness before dressing them in a vinegared miso with cucumbers and thinly shredded Japanese leek. The meal concludes with a dessert of a kaleidoscope of textures, like freshly churned ice cream, a duo of homegrown citrus fruits, lemon syrup, and meringue.

Throughout the evening, we recommend you dip into the wine pairings, which typically flow from champagne to white wine and on to red. The sake varieties and wines carefully chosen by the certified sommelier chef truly complement the elements of his unique culinary viewpoint.

INGREDIENTS
Toyosu Market is the source of much of the seafood delivered to Yamazaki, but the chef also lauds the exquisite tilefish, softshell turtle, and cod milt supplied by Fukueisuisan in Fukuoka. He takes direct delivery of seasonal specialties from around Japan, including bamboo shoots from Kyoto’s Tsukahara.