May 7 – Japanese hospitality
What if you went into a restaurant and everyone in the restaurant said “you’re welcome, please come in” loudly and while you were eating they presented you with dishes and one person would say to the staff “I’m serving the guest the salad”, and then the rest of the staff in the restaurant, “yes, please enjoy it!”. And when you leave, everyone says “thank you so much for coming”.
Well, that’s what happens in a lot of restaurants in Tokyo and the restaurant I went last night in particular. It was a lovely warm comfortable restaurant called Gaya (www.gaia-ochanomizu.co.jp), serving macrobiotic organic vegetarian and vegan cuisine and drinks. You take your shoes off and enter a restaurant mostly in rich wood with a large counter, with about 15 seats around it for eating, and there are other tables as well around it. There are different items placed on the counter and the grill for cooking is in the centre. You order the food and it is placed in your area either by someone inside the counter or on the outside, which could be the chef or the server.
We ordered a number of dishes and they came out in beautiful dishes and presentations… the tofu special of the day which were tofu croquettes on skewers with teriyaki sauce, fresh long beans grilled lightly, udon noodles with a sesame sauce and garnishes, steamed vegetables in a bamboo steamer with dipping sauce and garnishes, rice with spring mountain vegetables, and a dessert with vegan ice cream and apples in a spring roll like wrap. Delicious, but the ambiance and the staff of the place were the best part as they were warm, welcoming and friendly. I loved the “hi, dozo” sayings (yes, please enjoy it) to guests while you are eating, the hellos and good-byes. Once you know what they are saying (and you don’t think they are yelling at your or another), it’s a lot of fun and refreshing to see Japanese hospitality in action.
I believe there is a saying in Japanese that food is like god or god-like, so when you are serving food it is like serving people something that is more than food, but an offering to your guest of the best offering and presentation you can. That’s what I love about the Japanese tradition of food… the artistic creation, appreciation, and enjoyment of food, with the focus always on the guest you are creating it for. I think sometimes in North America we focus too much on what the restaurant or chef wants to serve and the guests sometimes come second, which is ironic because if it weren’t for the guests then the restaurants wouldn’t get “fed”.
Anyway, this was Japanese hospitality in action and it was wonderful to experience. At the end, everyone came to say good-bye to us, especially when they heard I was from Canada and Yuki and I were both chefs. They were pleased that we both loved the food and asked about how vegetarian/vegan Canada and Ottawa was, the temperature, and other polite conversation. I told them to visit me and a ZenKitchen dinner, so you never know if they might show up one day, and then I would have to repeat the honour and have all the servers truly welcome and honour them with words and actions. In Japanese restaurants I’ve been to date, you are in the same room as the chef as he works, separated by a counter or very close by, and this is partly due to space restrictions but also this allows the chef to watch and interact with the guests as well, which is something I would like in a restaurant/café of the future as well. Well, food for thought…
Well, that’s what happens in a lot of restaurants in Tokyo and the restaurant I went last night in particular. It was a lovely warm comfortable restaurant called Gaya (www.gaia-ochanomizu.co.jp), serving macrobiotic organic vegetarian and vegan cuisine and drinks. You take your shoes off and enter a restaurant mostly in rich wood with a large counter, with about 15 seats around it for eating, and there are other tables as well around it. There are different items placed on the counter and the grill for cooking is in the centre. You order the food and it is placed in your area either by someone inside the counter or on the outside, which could be the chef or the server.
We ordered a number of dishes and they came out in beautiful dishes and presentations… the tofu special of the day which were tofu croquettes on skewers with teriyaki sauce, fresh long beans grilled lightly, udon noodles with a sesame sauce and garnishes, steamed vegetables in a bamboo steamer with dipping sauce and garnishes, rice with spring mountain vegetables, and a dessert with vegan ice cream and apples in a spring roll like wrap. Delicious, but the ambiance and the staff of the place were the best part as they were warm, welcoming and friendly. I loved the “hi, dozo” sayings (yes, please enjoy it) to guests while you are eating, the hellos and good-byes. Once you know what they are saying (and you don’t think they are yelling at your or another), it’s a lot of fun and refreshing to see Japanese hospitality in action.
I believe there is a saying in Japanese that food is like god or god-like, so when you are serving food it is like serving people something that is more than food, but an offering to your guest of the best offering and presentation you can. That’s what I love about the Japanese tradition of food… the artistic creation, appreciation, and enjoyment of food, with the focus always on the guest you are creating it for. I think sometimes in North America we focus too much on what the restaurant or chef wants to serve and the guests sometimes come second, which is ironic because if it weren’t for the guests then the restaurants wouldn’t get “fed”.
Anyway, this was Japanese hospitality in action and it was wonderful to experience. At the end, everyone came to say good-bye to us, especially when they heard I was from Canada and Yuki and I were both chefs. They were pleased that we both loved the food and asked about how vegetarian/vegan Canada and Ottawa was, the temperature, and other polite conversation. I told them to visit me and a ZenKitchen dinner, so you never know if they might show up one day, and then I would have to repeat the honour and have all the servers truly welcome and honour them with words and actions. In Japanese restaurants I’ve been to date, you are in the same room as the chef as he works, separated by a counter or very close by, and this is partly due to space restrictions but also this allows the chef to watch and interact with the guests as well, which is something I would like in a restaurant/café of the future as well. Well, food for thought…
posted by Caroline at 4:33 AM
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