Relaying true value—it has nothing to do with the price
Masaki Fujioka was dining with an acquaintance at Simples when he met Naoki Maeda. This was about three years ago. At the time, Fujioka was making plans to feature only locally sourced ingredients at his restaurant, and his regular visits to Sasue Maeda Fish Store began thereafter. Fujioka had already known Maeda by reputation then. This is how he describes his magic now:
“Mr. Maeda visits our restaurants frequently and knows each of our cooking styles inside out. And he uses that knowledge to prepare and distribute the perfect cut and size of fish for each of us five chefs. Thanks to his work, we can create dishes that strike a chord with our customers. I don’t think any other fishmonger anywhere goes to such great lengths to work with and nurture the chefs.”
The signature dish of Nihon Ryori FUJI is “matsukasa-yaki (‘pine cone grilled’) white tilefish.”
“Pine cone grilling isn’t all that unusual; the technique itself is common enough. Quite often, however, in order to get the scales crisp and crunchy [like the scales of a matsukasa, or pine cone], the flesh is cooked through too. With Mr. Maeda’s preparation, the fish only needs to be cooked lightly, and this keeps the thread-like fibrous texture of the fish intact that when bitten, releases a wonderful aftertaste.”
Fujioka says the fish specially prepared by Maeda continues to motivate him to make each day’s dish taste even better than the day before.
“Mr. Maeda always says that true value has nothing to do with the price. I hope to relay that spirit by making the best use of the ingredients and presenting dishes that speak to the heart. I feel it’s important for those of us based in Shizuoka to promote the wealth of our local ingredients and pave the way for the future.”
Nihon Ryouri FUJI
3-6 Sakae-cho, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka
TEL：054-260-5166