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After a long drive around downtown's Commercial Street in search of the Italian restaurant I'd made a reservation for this night, I finally stopped in front of an unassuming corner store - this mix of meaty and creamy scents slithering out of the exhaust fan just smelled too good to be true.
Pushing through the door into the store, a long, narrow, 8-person bar, the chef and his assistant who are methodically busy. Despite taking Michelin one-star honors, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary neighborhood restaurant."I'm Matsumoto, please give me some advice." Seeing a new guest enter, the chef put down the cooking utensils in his hands and greeted them.
Il Casino opened in 2015, with head chef Kentaro Bekki having studied cooking in Italy and returned to his hometown of Kumamoto to open the restaurant after a stint in a Tokyo restaurant, which received a one-star Michelin rating in 2018. Now that Bekki has moved to Fukuoka to run its sister restaurant Bekki, which bears his name, Il Casino has been handed over to Chef Kouji Matsumoto.After a quick exchange of pleasantries, Chef Matsumoto returns to the stove. The space behind the bar is extremely narrow, making it difficult for two people to pass side by side. The chef was in charge of one side of the stove, while his assistant handled the side dishes and utensils on the other side. The so-called stovetop was just equipped with the most basic cooking utensils such as frying pans, snow pans, and small ovens, not unlike a typical family-style restaurant.
A refreshing mozzarella with ham and olive oil kicked off dinner.
Similar to many other French-Japanese restaurants with the concept of "Wabi-sabi", Il Casion serves Italian food with a Japanese twist. What is Japanese style Italian food? To paraphrase a well-known saying, it's hard for me to define what Japanese Italian food is, but when I eat it, I know it is.
There were two different pasta dishes on this night, one with car prawns and udon roe and the other with abalone and abalone liver sauce, both of which are extremely local ingredients. In particular, the sweetness of the carne asada shrimp and the saltiness of the otoro roe blended well with the herbs and the Italian sauce technique of seasoning.
With a seat so close to the stove, it's hard not to be mesmerized by Chef Matsumoto's deft moves between servings, and with an eight-guest, seven-course prix-fixe menu that is prepared by two chefs and their assistants, the timing of the dishes is even more difficult to manage, given that the time of day for each guest is different. The only problem is that you can smell the delightful aroma, watch the chef finish a beautiful piece of work in one fell swoop, and raise your knife and fork in anticipation, only to find that the dish has been served to a neighboring guest. ...…
For the next course, the chef sandwiched the cod roe in a crispy tartlet base, put it into a cylindrical mold, and placed it on a skillet to heat up on both sides. The tenderness of the roe contrasted with the crispy tartlet base, and then shaved some cheese on top to serve with the prepared green sauce, and the dish was complete in a simple yet flavorful way.
The most Japanese feature of the evening was undoubtedly this fried swordfish with bee balm flower stalks. The latter is a very iconic early spring wild vegetable, and even though the weather hasn't warmed up yet, you know spring is coming when you see it on the table. The seasoned consomme is simmered with swordfish bones, chicken claws and clams, and even though it's a French consommé, it tastes like a Japanese-style out of the juice.
As the main course, the pork was cooked and tenderized beautifully. A small piece of the pork was cut into the mouth and had a rich ham-like aroma.
"This is a European breed of pig raised in Kagoshima in small numbers." Chef Matsumoto explains that the breeder pig, named Saddleback (サドルバック), comes from the Kagoshima Fukudome small ranch and grows more slowly than the average breed, with an excellent fat aroma.
"It's a very Japanese-style Italian meal then." It was hard to wait until Chef Matsumoto finished his work, which left him free to chat a bit.
"The oil used in Italian food is very important, but Japanese food is all about the juice, so that's the point of difference between the styles." Matsumoto explains that among the menu on this day, there are clams added to the old pasta with clams out of the sauce in the Chess Sea and abalone out of the sauce in the abalone pasta.
When communicating in English, Chef Matsumoto said, "I don't speak English very well, I can only speak words, but I'm okay in Italian."
"Did you study at an Italian restaurant?"
"I haven't been to Italy yet, and because I'm interested in Italian food, I learned some when I was studying cooking."
The final dessert, mascarpone ice cream with expresso.
"Pour coffee on it and it's ......"
"A touch of tiramisu?"
Thanks for the hospitality.
Tel: 096-355-8305
Address：3-7,Tetorihonmachi,Chuo-ku,Kumamoto,Kumamoto,Pref.
- Author:japan guides
- URL:https://japan-guides.com/article/diet-14
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