Captivated by the magic of smoke.

Ozu smoked wa taste

Smoking here isn't about preservation — it's purely about flavor, and every detail is carefully considered: the spice blend, the salt level, the wood chips, the temperature, all in service of the ingredient itself. The arrangement and plating are delicate and beautiful throughout, offering a glimpse of Nagai's love for every single dish. The method changes depending on the cheese — camembert, for instance, is smoked briefly over high heat, then rested overnight. The day's smoked trio lets you sample whatever ingredients are recommended that day, from Date free-range chicken wings to natural eggs from Naganuma. The chicken wings have a springiness that pushes back with the first bite, packed with juicy, umami-rich juices, moist and plump in texture. It completely overturns any assumption that smoked food has to be tough or salty.

The ingredients come from a contracted organic farm's vegetables and eggs from hens raised in a near-natural environment. Nagai builds each recipe while sensing the true condition of the ingredients. "Just being delicious isn't enough," he says. Hokkaido's ingredients are of such high quality that, sometimes, simple cooking without any extra fuss is the best approach. But he also deliberately takes on new challenges, adding an extra step or two to create surprise and excitement that didn't exist before. Smoking inevitably means making guests wait, but he says proudly that, in exchange, they get to enjoy dishes they can't taste anywhere else. Smoking is the ultimate cooking method chosen by Nagai's curiosity and playful spirit.