16 hours in Osaka: Kanazawa in Osaka

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We have 1 night in Osaka - a city I hadn't been to since 1998 - and need a place to eat. Fergie has promised to buy me dinner, but surprisingly didn't have any suggestions on the venue. Well... the couple of places I've been wanting to hit in Osaka for years are either booked out for the evening or not open. I turned to the ever-trusty Tabelog and did a quick search. Much to my surprise, I was able to book seats at the counter for the four of us with two days' notice at a place with Tabelog Bronze Award and a Michelin star.

The second seating on a Sunday night at Higashichaya Nakamura (東茶屋 なかむら) finds us seated next to three friends of the chef who had brought their own bottles of wine. I had never heard of the place until two days ago, so I didn't have much expectations other than the approval and recognitions it had received. Besides, I wasn't the one paying for the meal, anyway...

Chef Nakamura Manabu (中村学) hails from Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県), known for their great produce around Kanazawa (金沢) and Noto Peninsula (能登半島). Having trained in a number of estasblishments with Michelin stars in Kansai, he is known for bringing most of the seafood ingredients from his home region. Displayed prominently behind him tonight was a bottle collecting charity donations for the victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake on January 1st of 2024.

Appetizer: lotus root, Japanese horsehair crab, sea urchin (先付: 蓮根 毛蟹 雲丹) - this was a pretty presentation on a large lotus leaf, which was sprayed with some water to create that look with summer rain drops on the leaves.

16 hours in Osaka: cold sake on a hot summer day

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Fergie pinged me two days ago, telling me there's been a change in his travel plans. Would I be able to join him for a short visit to Daimon Brewery (大門酒造) today? Well, I did have plans to meet up with Rikachu for lunch today, but I realized this visit was probably more important... So I apologized to my friends for bailing on them and made my travel arrangements.

After shoving some contraband into my check-in luggage, Fergie and I made our way to The Bridge. I haven't been here since this lounge re-opened, and I quickly got myself some breakfast.

I had seen friends post about the new biangbiang noodle (𰻞𰻞麵) offered at the lounge, which was in addition to the usual dandan noogle (擔擔麵). I figured I needed to check it out, and while some of the noodles stuck together as expected, the minced pork sauce was nice and spicy with the fragrance from Sichuan peppercorns.

Sweet drinks (are made of this)

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I had been looking forward to the new desserts that Astoria and the team had been developing at Caprice, and had the idea of doing a casual dinner at the Caprice Bar where I could try them all at once. I had to wait a few weeks until the new desserts all passed their internal taste tests, which was apparently done over last weekend. So I got myself a table for tonight, allowing me to catch Hairy Legs before he left for the summer.

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Anyss greeted us upon our arrival, and he was pretty excited to show us the new cocktails and the presentation format. Since we're on his turf tonight, we decided to order cocktails with our dinner for a change.

I Can't Drive _ _

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It’s that time of the year again, and I’m grateful that Foursheets flew halfway around the world to be back for this dinner. Just as I did last year, I chose to spend this night at my beloved Ta Vie 旅, as there were a few dishes I really wanted to have.

I chose not to dine here during the period when they were serving their 10th anniversary menu, featuring their “greatest hits” since opening, so I knew there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to have the exact menu served to me tonight. Sato-san did, however, agree to serve me some of those dishes as part of the special menu he selected for me – interspersing the classics between new, seasonal dishes.

I’m also grateful that such a fine dining establishment would be open for business on a Sunday with the chef in the kitchen. That made my choice of restaurant much easier.

Nukazuke (糠漬け) bread – this little bread has been part of the journey on every single occasion, ever since the restaurant’s opening. I shall never tire of starting the meal by tearing open this piping hot bundle.

Snacks with an Accent

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The Great One pinged me asking whether I'd be interested in attending a four-hands collaboration between Chef Shantanu Mehrotra of Indian Accent and Chef Gaurav Kulhari of Chaat. She would be in Europe for the festivities in advance of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, but had been told that she could pass along her invitation to someone else.

As Foursheets is halfway around the world, I needed to find a dining companion willing to put up with me for a couple of hours. Thankfully The Man in White T-shirt was available and curious enough, so I didn't have to be the loner for the day. 

We are treading on B Bestie's turf, so I wasn't the least bit surprised to find that lunch had turned into dinner service for us. Thankfully I don't have anything planned for dinner since I'm home alone. B Bestie also very smartly kept me away from the table he was actually hosting for lunch...

Khakhra, vatana, chutneys, from Indian Accent - the flavors of the Gujarati khakra (ખાખરા) shell were now familiar to me after the few visits I paid The Bombay East Indian Girl last year, and here we've got some peas inside, with yogurt and tamarind chutney, and finally bits of dhokla (ઢોકળાં) on top with a tiny piece of avocado.