DINING

Taketomi helped to dispel every stereotype I had of Okinawan cuisine. Visit any garden on this island, and you'll find it lined with vegetables you've never seen. The seafood offers flavors that are at once smooth and complex, and much of it is rich in gelatin. As I experimented with these unique ingredients, I decided that the best way to demonstrate their qualities was to use French culinary techniques to combine them with foods that would strengthen their flavors. For example, with seafood, I tried adding umami with a chicken mousse or wrapping the ingredients in cured ham. This experimentation gave birth to a type of cuisine I named Nouvelle Ryukyu, after the traditional name of Okinawa. I use plenty of local herbs, grown on the premises along with spices that are suited to the island's climate, such as rosemary and parsley. These herbs have a robustness that matches the rich flavors of the local ingredients.

Rediscovering
Okinawan ingredients

Okinawan specialties are not rare in Japan; you can find them in any city around the country. Nouvelle Ryukyu is designed to show there is more to Okinawan food than these well-known dishes. Due to its temperate climate, Okinawa produces lush vegetables even in the winter, while there is also plenty of game commonly used in French cuisine. The wild boar on Irimote Island, for example, feed on wild acorns and provide meat as tender and flavorful as that of Iberico pork. All plates and bowls used at the HOSHINOYA Taketomi Island restaurant have been made by the Okinawan master potter Jissei Omine, whose playful mix of Okinawan aesthetics and French culinary presentation helps enhance the dining experience. Each piece redefines popular notions of Okinawan beauty. Through both food and dishware, Nouvelle Ryukyu offers constant surprises for the eyes and the palate.

Island Terroir: A Wintertime Delight

The soil of this small island rests on a bed of coral, while temperatures average 24°C year-round. This unique environment produces a crop cycle that is entirely unique from that of mainland Japan. As a result, winter is the best time of the year to enjoy the finest flavors of Taketomi. For example, potatoes planted in the fall and picked in the winter are the most delicious--a fact I learned from one of the island's elders. Also, tiger prawns are juiciest during the winter, having spent the rest of the year in the warm, nutrient-rich waters off Taketomi.
These seasonal, locally sourced ingredients form the foundation of the next evolution of my Nouvelle Ryukyu cuisine. I call it Island Terroir--an allusion to the distinctive flavors wine extracts from the environment in which it is produced. Available only during the winter, this menu represents a perfect harmony of qualities derived from the weather, land, and people of Taketomi. I hope you enjoy these seasonal delights.