The chef’s omakase menu flows through a dozen seasonal dishes. “The menu will depend entirely on the ingredients of the day,” Tsuji explains. “Where I can make a difference is how to arrange them.”

From the start, Tsuji’s cuisine will surprise you with new ways to enjoy seasonal flavors. The opening appetizer mixes an assortment of wild mushrooms and is topped with a generous scoop of juicy and sweet salmon roe. The unusual combination is not only beautiful to look at but introduces a fresh combination of tastes and texture.

Beautifully curated on a flower shaped plate is a parade of seven seasonal appetisers from dressed salads to fried delicacies. The day’s hassun includes chestnuts in syrup, crab and mozuku seaweed, figs dressed with sesame dressing, smoked Pacific saury and little potatoes fried with rice cracker batter.

Among many devout fans, the soup is their ultimate favorite at Oryori Tsuji. Using clear dashi made by brewing kombu flakes for more than eight hours, the broth is incredibly rich in umami. The topping changes with the season as Tsuji selects the pairing of flavors such as fresh bamboo shoots and oigatsuo, or “chasing” bonito, in the spring. Eggplants are wed with sakura shrimp while winter gourd with donko mushrooms. The day’s soup features steamed tilefish with matsutake mushrooms from Bhutan, carefully placed on top of a slice of egg tofu. Infuse yourself in the aromatic vapour as you carefully sip the hot liquid to warm your stomach.

The sashimi plate showcases an assortment of fresh catches and matured fish. Using various techniques from kombujime to searing, the chef brings out the best flavors in each fish. White trevally from Kochi has been resting for two days, while grouper from Niigata is matured for as long as ten days for a deeper flavor.

For the grill, he likes to choose rich and fatty fish like nodoguro, hairtail, trout and eel. On the day of our visit, he grills pieces of salt-water eels over crackling charcoal, topped with sansho peppercorn, gingko nuts and tiny mukago potatoes.

The rice dish at the end is a celebration of four seasons. In the spring, the koshihikari grains from Kyoto are cooked with spear squid, squid eggs and butterbur. The summer recipe uses grilled eel, corn and edamame. In the fall, he mixes in wild mushroom and fatty duck. The winter brings snow crabs and Japanese parsley. Naturally, a visit every season becomes a must.

INGREDIENTS
Besides quality finds at the Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, Tsuji buys seasonal delicacies directly from growers across Japan. For wild mushrooms, for example, he picks and chooses among ten or so regions, including some rare picks like ohmomitake and shaka shimeji that many Japanese would not have heard of before. He often goes mushroom picking himself.

The kombu seaweed comes from Rishiri Islands while the meats come from a ranch in Chiba Prefecture. The rice is brought from Miyama mountain in Kyoto. They have a wide selection of drinks from sake, wine and shochu. The sake tends to be more with a lighter and dry tone. Most of the wines come from Burgundy.