Introducing the best “Specialty” places in Japan

 Introducing the best “Specialty” places in Japan

Third wave coffee shops and other specialty coffee places

 Third wave coffee shops and other specialty coffee places

Natural wine bars

Бары с натуральным вином

“Specialty” gastro-pubs

 “Specialty” gastro-pubs

Restaurants with star chefs

 Restaurants with star chefs

Articles

The Japanese maxim 一期一会 (ichigo ichie), which serves as the motto for all tea ceremonies, can be roughly translated into English as 'Every encounter happens only once.' Even if one uses the same tea for brewing, each time the drink will have a slightly different taste, making each tea session a unique experience. Moreover, just one cup of delicious tea can bring incomparable peace and tranquillity, or, conversely, evoke delight and surprise.

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Let’s try to apply the concept of 'specialty' to wine. Just like with coffee, such a 'certification' should include two components: the production technology and the connoisseur's evaluation.

Strictly speaking, the technology of wine production encompasses the entire journey 'from sapling to glass.' The first stage is the birth of 'specialty grapes,' which must be grown using organic or biodynamic methods considering the entire ecosystem surrounding the plant. The role of grapes in wine production is immense: one can make good or bad wines from good grapes, but one can't make good wine from bad grapes.

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For a variety of reasons, the 20th century became the era of mass control through influence on consciousness, and this, of course, goes beyond the role of propaganda in politics. It was in the 20th century that marketing evolved from an art to an almost exact science, and large corporations gained access to a full arsenal of marketing tools that allow them to make almost any product desirable to consumers.

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Despite the existence of several large national specialty coffee associations around the world, and even a recently established global one, universal global standards in this area are still lacking. The consensus is that specialty coffee is 'simply' perfect coffee; beyond that definition, however, a plethora of interpretations still exists.

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Offers

The Korean restaurant Hahaha, which opened on Takatsuji-dori street on October 16, 2021, is charming precisely because it refuses to fit into conventional frameworks. Unique recipes, vin nature from Kyoto’s best wine shop, hipster design seamlessly integrated into the traditional interior of an old house, and at the same time quite democratic prices — this is the formula used by restaurateur Zen-san. But this is not a standard “Japanese-Korean” restaurant.

As an ethnic Korean, Zen-san seeks his identity in the regional dishes of Busan and Jeju Island — which are little known to most Japanese — rather than in the widely popular yakiniku or the usual Japanese-Korean cuisine found across Japan. The concept of Hahaha follows the style of traditional Korean eateries: Korean teishoku (定食) is an everyday set meal, similar to a Japanese fixed lunch, but with a different gastronomic logic. The main dish can be a soup — vegetable, meat, or a spicy seafood “bibimbap” — while the sides consist of kimchi and other fermented snacks.

The à la carte menu does not feature typical dishes found in Japanese Korean restaurants, such as samgyeopsal or galbi. Instead, it offers authentic regional cuisine from Jeju and Busan: folk soups, seafood, boiled meats, and mandu dumplings.

The restaurant occupies two floors. The first floor is a small stylish dining room with a bar counter covered in mosaic tiles. The second floor is a renovated machiya with open walls and ceiling.

Being a pioneer of a new genre in the restaurant business is a thankless task, but Zen-san is not afraid to experiment. His experience in the Korean gastronomic scene, where such formats have long been popular, led him to a simple thought: if it works in Korea, why shouldn’t it also take root in Japan?