Masaki Hashimoto likes pizza and rock ’n’ roll. It’s a surprising and amusing admission given that he has dedicated his whole life to mastering the art of kaiseki, a unique and immersive Japanese dining experience.
Kaiseki dates back to the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th century. Hashimoto is the master chef and owner of Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto, in the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre near Don Mills and Eglinton. It’s the only restaurant of its kind in Canada and one that definitively proves there’s more to Japanese cuisine than the middling maki and tempura served up by Toronto’s countless sushi shops.
“Kaiseki is not a style of cooking, but a whole concept,” says Hashimoto through his son, Kei, who translates. “It is about the feeling you obtain from the meal, the experience of the meal, not just the eating of the food itself.”The goal, Hashimoto explains, is not to fill your stomach, but to fill your heart with the spirit of Japan. And it’s no exaggeration to say that kaiseki can provide a somewhat religious experience as it very much delivers a journey into traditional Japanese culture.
Hashimoto and his son are seated at a small dining table surrounded by rice-paper walls and tall dried reeds, all painstakingly handcrafted by Hashimoto to reflect the all-encompassing nature of his devotion to the kaiseki experience.They sip hand-whisked cha (green tea), imported from Kyoto, from centuries-old hand-painted porcelain cups while they talk.
The only nod to the modern world is a Mac laptop that Hashimoto occasionally refers to as he discusses the intricacies of kaiseki. “Kaiseki is about creating harmony,”he says,“harmony between the chef and the customer and harmony between everyone and the food.” To fully understand this relationship,it’s important to realize that kaiseki isn’t dynamite rolls and sushi pizza. In fact, it isn’t sushi at all.
Kaiseki is as much an art form as a style of cooking and food preparation, and it has its roots in ancient Buddhist and Shinto beliefs about the primacy of nature.
“Before every meal we say ‘Itadakimasu,’” says Hashimoto, referring to a simple grace that literally means “I shall take” but more specifically acknowledges the sacrifice that nature has made to provide the ingredients for the meal. Food is prepared to demanding specifications — Kei Hashimoto is in training to become a chef but is not yet allowed to even step foot inside his father’s kitchen.
Next year, he will travel to Kyoto, much as his father did, to apprentice there, spending as long as three years learning each of the stations of the kitchen, starting with handwashing the dishes.
“Washing dishes is crucial,” Kei Hashimoto says, likening the process of becoming a kaiseki chef to becoming a karate or aikido black belt. “You first must master the roots of kaiseki, and how you treat the dishes reflects upon everything else.”
Similarly, meals are delivered to the table with the precise choreography and attention to detail as in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, which Hashimoto invites every customer to participate in after they’ve eaten.
As for the menu, it consists of nine predetermined courses based on the four seasons and the demand for perfect freshness — with a fixed price of $300 per person (not including tax or tip).
“This is not fast food,” says Hashimoto with a chuckle.“You are experiencing Japan.”
All of the ingredients, from the seasonal fish, sea urchin and roe to the Kyoto red carrots to the wasabi and salt, are imported directly from Japan. Hashimoto tells his suppliers in Japan to send what is fresh and in season, and then he creates the menu.
“Traditional Japanese cuisine calls for Japanese ingredients,” Kei Hashimoto says matter-of-factly.
That’s one of the reasons why reservations are required at least one week in advance.
“Even if the President or the Queen were to call, we would not be able to welcome them for at least one week,” says Hashimoto.
Presentation is an art form, with each dish given equal care and attention, each morsel shaped and carved with the Zen-like care of a bonsai master, and each is served in a clean and uncluttered manner, from the shapes, colours and textures of the food to the shapes, colours and textures of the dishes and utensils.
“It’s not about making it elaborate, it’s about simplicity. Each ingredient must be in balance, in harmony with all the others,” Hashimoto explains.
Likewise, the meal must flow, each dish a chapter in a larger story.
“Soft textures and gentle flavours give way to coarser textures and stronger flavours, each complementing and contrasting in very specific ways, each part of an experience that embodies Japanese culture,” Kei Hashimoto adds.
Hashimoto, who was born in the southern island of Shikoku, spent 10 years training to be a kaiseki chef in Kyoto before moving to Canada in 1983.
In 2007 he returned to Japan to compete in the Japanese Culinary Arts Competition. He was named one of the top five chefs in Japan and was awarded the technique award, using his signature dish, the crane carved out of a Daikon radish, as the prizewinner.
Still, he says that kaiseki is a lifelong process.
“I am always trying to become better,” he says. “Training yourself close to perfection takes a lifetime. You are never really finished.There is always more to learn.”
