Chef Marc Soper joined the Ōra King Chefs’ Tour of Tokyo as part of the fifth annual Ōra King Awards. Below is his experience of Nadaman Zipangu Restaurant.
One of the most memorable experiences of the Japan tour, and there were so many, but this one in particular, was a lunch organised by Ōra King held at Nadaman Zipangu in Akasaka Excel Hotel.
The beautiful setting was enhanced by being guided to our table by the extremely professional wait staff who were dressed in traditional Japanese attire. We started off, of course, with sake and local beer and were presented with a hot towel to freshen up with before the meal.
The first course hosted five variations of salmon. Complexity and skill were presented in several different formats and each tasted incredible; this continued through the meal with varied salmon components, including sushi. The entire meal was both delicious and inspiring. I loved seeing so many different ways that the chef had utilised the part of the salmon. I was especially inspired by this, not only because of my own passion for ‘nose to tail’ preparation, but also seeing applications that I don’t normally use in my style of cookery. It created a lot of conversation over the table, how, for example, did the chef manage to puff that grain so that it was cooked enough to eat but still remain on the plant!
Overall, it was an amazing adventure eating this meal, and I could do it over and over again. My own style of cookery since I have returned from Japan has began to sneak in some of the flavours and things I saw while being away, and for this I am so thankful. Cookery is always changing, and being given an opportunity such as this was a gift to be forever grateful for.
Thanks again Ōra King.
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