Tokyo

Kiyosumishirakawa Harada

清澄白河　原田

After nearly two decades with the prestigious Kamiya group, Chef Yasutaka Harada has launched his own restaurant to serve exquisite handmade soba and Japanese cuisine. Located in Kiyosumi Shirakawa, a charming Tokyo neighborhood off the beaten path, the restaurant showcases his craft in soba-making and refined artistry. Preparing several kinds of noodles daily, tasting the soba of the season is one of the pleasures of dining here.

Opened in May 2024, Kiyosumishirakawa Harada is located on the third floor of the building just by Kiyosumi Shirakawa station. When you push open the heavy wooden door, you will walk into a stunning dining room where an arched counter hugs around the kitchen like a grand stage. Only 12 seats are set across the counter, where every guest can enjoy watching the chef’s mastery up close.

Courses of seasonal soba and Japanese dishes are served on a stunning collection of tableware that the chef has been collecting for over 10 years. While some are selected from galleries, he likes to purchase directly from potters in Tajimi, Bizen and Hagi. He is excited to finally have the chance to take them out of their boxes and use them to serve his cuisine.

Exquisite handmade soba and Japanese cuisine

From freshmade soba to classic Japanese dishes like sashimi and grilled fish, Kiyosumishirakawa Harada’s omakase menu brings about flavors of the season by using high-quality ingredients. Weaving traditional and modern elements, every course highlights the chef’s talent as both a craftsman and an artist.

The soba noodles are made fresh every day in the special room behind the kitchen. Using a mix of buckwheat and wheat, the noodles have a strong aroma that lingers on your nose. The chef likes to use buckwheat flour from different regions such as Gunma, Hokkaido and Yamagata, offering variety for each season.

The day’s soba is karasumi soba, a signature recipe that his mentor Masataka Kamiya helped create for Chef Ferran Adrià of El Bulli. The light-colored Sarashina noodles are made using the soft center of the buckwheat kernel. Tossed in light sesame oil and snow salt, the soba is served with heaps of dried mullet roe, spring onions and Mimolette cheese from Hokkaido. “Please enjoy it like spaghetti," says Harada warmly.

The smoked sashimi is another masterpiece that showcases Harada’s creativity. Tuna cheek meat is grilled over charcoal and smoked with oak wood chips. The dish is served in a wine glass, which is lifted in front of the guests. Garnished with salt, wasabi and chopped shallots, the layers of flavors come together beautifully in your mouth.

The pufferfish is another delightful appetizer. The fish is flavored with kombu and grilled over a charcoal fire for a smoky flavor. It’s served with a ponzu jelly and garnished with Kyoto carrots. The chawanmushi, or steamed egg custard, is flavored with cod and milt and topped with Ezo Bafun sea urchin and soba grains thickened in kuzu paste.

The crab rice is presented to the guests with the meat mounted over the vinegared rice in the crab shell. The chef then mixes everything together to blend in all the flavors. Every mouthful is packed with gorgeous umami.

The last course is a bowl of Kitawase soba, made with buckwheat from Mashu in Hokkaido. Using techniques he mastered as head chef of Sobagami, a restaurant in the Kamiya group, the noodles have an elegant flavor and great texture. The flavorful broth is made with high-quality mackerel, bonito and kombu, and flavored with dark soy sauce, tamari soy sauce and rock sugar. It has a wonderfully rich aftertaste.

INGREDIENTS
Harada sources the best soba available from various regions such as Gunma, Hokkaido, Yamagata and Akita. For fish, he purchases seasonal seafood using his own routes, in addition to vendors in Toyosu and Tsukiji. He uses Mazuma wasabi from Izu.

He is continuously looking for superior producers for key ingredients such as bonito flakes and kombu. He likes to test different products and change them one after another in search of better ones. There is a bonito flakes shop near his home that he visits frequently.

CHEF

Yasutaka Harada

Yasutaka Harada was born in Tokyo in 1984. After graduating from Tsuji Culinary Institute, he joined the Kamiya group to begin his training. Starting at the soba restaurant Akasaka Takegami, he dedicated the next 19 years working at various Kamiya establishments including Japanese Cuisine Ginza Kamiya and Sobagami, where he was named head chef.

After leaving Kamiya, he joined Tsukiji Sushi Omakase for a year, where he discovered the brilliance of aged fish. He decided to finally own his own restaurant and opened Kiyosumishirakawa Harada in May 2024 at the age of 39.

Harada's culinary vision follows the spirit of his mentor, Masataka Kamiya who inherited the approach of bringing together sushi and soba from his master, a chef at Rosanjin’s legendary restaurant Hoshigaoka Saryo. While valuing the traditions of kaiseki more than anyone else, he incorporated sushi and soba into his menu to make the art of kaiseki more enjoyable and accessible for the guests.

In addition to his mastery in soba-making, Harada holds qualifications as a puffer fish chef, sake diplomat, wine sommelier and vegetable sommelier. He became a wine sommelier at the age of 23. He says he enjoys his drinks.

VISION
Finally opening a restaurant named after himself, Harada wants to make it a restaurant that is beloved by its guests. He hopes to convey the traditions of Japanese cuisine through soba, and have more people experience its pure delight.

SAKE & SAKEWARE

As a certified sake sommelier, Harada curates a fine selection of sake that pairs beautifully with his cuisine. He likes to stock well-rounded vintages such as Jikon, Aramasa and Nichi Nichi. Like the collection of dishes, the stunning sakeware is also selected by Harada himself. Many of his favorite sake cups were purchased when the artists were still quite young, he recalls fondly.