This web magazine proposes new ways to enjoy kogei.
Through interviews with creators, artists and people who live in Hokuriku,
discover the allure of Kogei from various angles.
At Shókudō YArn [styled with the double-caps], a restaurant in the residential area of Komatsu City, you’ll find innovating and experimental dishes that draw constant visitors from well beyond Ishikawa Prefecture. Chef Yuji Yoneda sticks to his roots in choosing everything locally. We asked Yoneda, who actively collaborates with local kogei craft artists, about his history and the possibility of opening a restaurant in such a region of craft
production.
“YArn” refers to Komatsu’s history having a thriving textile industry. [“Shokudo” means “diner” in Japanese.]
The building was renovated from a former textile family that had been run by the parents of his wife, Asami.
The wooden frame remains largely unchanged over the years. The space incorporates the history of Komatsu and of the family.
Kanasago stone [tuff stone made from the ash of nearby Mount Haku] has been used for walls and storehouses in the Kaga region since ancient times.
Nikujaga [Japanese meat and potato dish], one of Shókudō YArn’s specialties.
That such a domestic dish should find itself on the menu of such a fine restaurant seemed strange at first, but I was surprised with the appearance of pink and purple dumplings covered in a ragout sauce. What on earth…? But as soon as I brought it to my tongue, the unmistakeable taste of nikujaga brought me back home.
In his cooking, Yoneda often uses methods for reconstructing common dishes into completely new forms. The uncanny images he creates are guaranteed to elicit a smile, and is why, despite being a high-price restaurant, YArn often draws loud cheers from its guests.
“I want more people to experience the pleasure of tasting disconnection,” says Yoneda. His desire stems from the culture shock he experienced during his training in Europe, which made him question his own roots.
Chef Yuji Yoneda
Seats are always filled with cheers and laughter.
The bowl in which the nikujaga was served. His wife, Asami, wrote the words which the potter then baked into the dish. [They read “northern ruby” and “shadow queen” for the potato types.]
After graduating university, Yoneda went to Italy and began working as a live-in apprentice at a restaurant.
“At that time, there was a gentleman earning little over 100,000 yen a month [under 1,000 USD], who would come in once a month with his whole family for a full course meal with wine. In Japan, indulging that kind of ‘luxury’ is hard to imagine. But, to them, it’s everything. They are conscious of their food. Even if they’re just eating lunch at work, there’s an atmosphere of taking one’s time with the meal. For better or worse, that moment of ‘feeling alive’ is a comfortable one for me.”
Yoneda became familiar with Italian cuisine and honed his skills enough to be entrusted with the menu of the restaurant. However, in presenting Italian cuisine to Italian people, he ran into a wall. “I couldn’t capture the final essence.”
He says, “No matter how much I studied or any many recipes I learned, there was always some subtle flavor or ‘something’ missing. It would be as if I asked a foreign chef to make miso soup and expected it to taste like my mother’s or grandmother’s. I had to face the fact that I could not ‘become an Italian’.”
After that, he went to Spain to continue training, but he was often expected to ‘be Japanese’.
“I’d gone to Italy immediately after university, so I’d left without many experiences in Japan. I was Japanese in appearance, but not in culture. That gave me a bit of a complex.”
He returned to Japan after seven years of training in Europe and began working in a Japanese restaurant in his hometown of Komatsu. At the same time, he began practicing the tea ceremony. “I was just absorbing those aspects I wanted most. In a sense, I guess you could say it was a time to shape my identity as ‘Japanese’.”
After another eight years working at the restaurant, he opened Shókudō YArn in Komatsu with this wife, Asami, in 2015. Though he developed his skills abroad, Yoneda didn’t have the option of opening in a more urban area like Tokyo. But the importance of being connected to one’s family and hometown, to one’s “roots,” was the same deep feeling as in Europe.
The olive tree in YArn’s courtyard is over 200 years old.
After opening YArn, Yoneda actively began incorporating local crafted works into his presentations. Much of his dining ware is original, custom-ordered from the artists. “Using local crafts is as natural to me as using local ingredients,” he says in a light and unpretentious manner.
“In the end, I think the question is, ‘Why here, in Ishikawa?’ I could simply order fish from Toyosu Market for my ingredients. But from the customer’s point of view, there’s no sense in paying more to transport something that can be eaten anywhere. Maybe the the quality of blackthroat seapearch* isn’t the best ever, but it’s the taste of Ishikawa, isn’t it? If I’m to be in Ishikawa, I should use Ishikawa produce. That feeling of the region as the starting point gets stronger each year.”
* Blackthroat seapearch [known locally as nodoguro], also called rosy seaperch, is a typical winter
taste in the Hokuriku region and is characterized by its fatty flesh.
A dish by Toshiko Nakajima, made by mixing pottery stone, the soil beneath YArn, and clay chosen by the artist.
This Kutani-ware cup has been with the shop since its beginning and is a collaboration with artist Seito Tamura, who is known for her traditional Kutani techniques and fine print.
This plate, cut from a Chinese plum tree, was drilled and lacquered by a Yamanaka lacquerware artist.
A duplicate of a Yamanaka lacquerware piece by the renown artist Rosanjin, who himself spend time in Yamanaka and the Kaga area.
It’s said that incorporating traditional Japanese craft into the plating also gives the food an unexpected essence.
“I was once asked to participate in the KUTANism project, and in one event, we collaborated with Kutani-ware artists to plate dishes. I’d grown up in the middle of a Kutani production area, and I had this idea in my head that Kutani was too colorful and flamboyant to plate well with my cuisine. However, when I actually served the dishes, there was a kind of magic that made it all come together. Now I use Kutani unabashedly.”
The interaction between food and its plating can create innovative results. This is why, when Yoneda asks an artist to create an original piece for YArn, he consults with them to ensure the artist’s personality comes across rather than imposing his own suggestions. “If the chef makes all the decisions, it can often create something monotonous and boring. I think the advantage of having a restaurant in a craft production area with artists so close is that you can get ideas and perspectives you would never have on your own.”
The collaboration between YArn and Kutani-ware artist, Yukihiro Yoshida, held at “KUTANism” in 2019.
Udon noodles served in a bowl painted with flowers.
Even a broken piece becomes its own whole “dish” in Yoneda’s hands.
A kitchen filled with gorgeous tableware.
Many requests to collaborate have come Yoneda’s way, including from high-end, world-class brands. However, he stresses, “A restaurant like mine is only possible because of the more orthodox restaurants that uphold tradition and the classics.”
“It’s because the originals exist that you can appreciate the fun in ‘shifting’ from them. With our nikujaga dish, you could only feel the surprise if you’re familiar with the standard. Any kind of innovative expression builds on the history and culture of where it’s created. Without that kind of context, it would be merely bizarre and empty.”
“And on the other hand, there is a sense that the value of the traditional dish comes out in its simplicity. In a way, it’s nonsense to argue which is better, and I believe the two complement each other, as we can enjoy both.”
They are not opposing ends of an axis, but like the fibers of yarn that interlock to increase its strength. I hope you’ll come experience the “taste” of Ishikawa in the creative form it takes at YArn.
PROFILE
Yuji Yoneda: Born in Nomi City. After graduating from the Kanazawa University College of Science, he trained at restaurants in Europe, primarily in Italy, for about seven years. After returning to Japan, he worked at a Japanese restaurant in Komatsu City and studied Japanese cuisine. In 2015, he opened Shókudō YArn in Komatsu, where the home of his wife’s parents is located. Yuji is in charge of cooking, and Asami, dessert.
URL: shokudo-yarn.com
Wakana Yanagida (author of the original Japanese article)（Writer, ENN co., ltd.）
Born in Kurobe City, Toyama Prefecture in 1988. She graduated from the University of Toyama Faculty of Art and Design’s Cultural Management Course. After working as an editor for a local magazine, she now manages the local media magazine, “real local金沢” through ENN and Kanazawa R Real Estate co., ltd.
