After my visit to Ogata and Tokuha Motonari in Kyoto, I started my food journey around the country. This Japan trip started in early April and is timed to have the best chance of having hanasansho at different kaiseki restaurants. Next meal is a visit to Yukimoto in Nagano. Out of all the Tabelog Gold award kaiseki restaurants, Yukimoto is the easiest to make a reservation and also the hardest place to get to. Located deep in the mountains of Nagano in Iida city, the quickest access is through Shinkansen train to Nagoya station and then another 2 hours by car. Since there are only basic accommodations available in Iida, for anyone interested in making this trip, I would advise going for lunch and returning to Nagoya or another city afterwards.
Despite the long travel time, this is my fifth visit and I continue to be awestruck on every visit. In addition to hanasansho, the main theme of the menu in mid-April is sansai, the wide array of wild, edible plants and young shoots foraged from the mountains. Prized primarily for their fleeting seasonality and bitterness, Chef Hagiwara showcased his understanding of the ingredients, by incorporating one type of sansai in each dish on the menu, and his skills by prepping each sansai differently.
The crowd favorite today was the green and white asparagus taken from the same farm that morning. For peak freshness, the asparagus served at lunch are picked in the morning and those for dinner are picked later in the day. I think the quality of ingredients is where Yukimoto shines and I have had the freshest and highest quality hanasansho and matsutake here. Many of the dishes here are also very unique such as the Monaka, Tomato, Cream Cheese, Hana Wasabi palate cleanser
Dried Daikon Soup, Kinome
Koshiabura, Mushi Kome
Sansai Hassun
Udo Owan
Itadori, Fukinoto Oil, Koi Sashimi
Oyaki Pork Ninja Ninniku dumpling
Pan Fried Takenoko
Yuba, Fukinoto Miso
White and Green Adparagus
Saku, Mutton
Monaka, Tomato, Cream Cheese, Hana Wasabi
Hanasansho, Kuma
Hanasansho, Suppon
Hanasansho, Kuma Sukiyaki with Tamago
Asparagus Gohan
Suppon soup
Kumogi Inari Sushi
Oshiruko
Mikan Jelly
by DanielfromHK_