Michelin-star Osaka chef on opening his Hong Kong restaurant, and his thing for rice
Hideaki Matsuo, who this week opens the first overseas branch of his three-Michelin-star restaurant, Kashiwaya, tells Vanessa Yung about the masters from whom he learned
"That would be my mother cooking hourensou no goma-ae, which is boiled spinach with sesame dressing. When I was three or four years old, I used to help my mum prepare the dish by roasting the sesame seeds by shaking them in a pan over the grill."
"When I was a kid, I loved to eat tasty food. But that didn't directly ignite my desire to become a chef. It was after I went to university and met Soukou Ikeda, my master in tea ceremony, that I became interested in creating a thoroughly enjoyable experience for guests by not only paying attention to the tea but also to the food, atmosphere and service. I was more like a producer, rather than a chef, but that's the basic philosophy behind kaiseki cuisine. Eventually, I wanted to be in charge of everything, including the cooking."
"In Japan, we think it's important to go outside to experience something different. So it was natural for me to go and get trained at Shofukuro [in Tokyo] instead of at the 38-year-old family restaurant, Kashiwaya. Shofukuro is pretty famous and is known for keeping traditions while taking in new ideas. I like the philosophy of chef Hidetaro Nakamura, and wanted to be trained there. After a few years, in 1992, I took the helm at Kashiwaya."
Even when 99 out of 100 guests who come to my restaurant don't understand every single detail ... there might still be one person who will understand