"I"talia, "Ni"ppon, and "Ta"iwan, these three countries summarized the core experiences, not only about work, but also life and inspirations of Chef Kunihiro Hagimoto, and from there the restaurant INITA was born.
Chef Kunihiro Hagimoto was originally from Osaka Japan. During his culinary journey, he spent many years working in some of the renown restaurants in Italy. To name a few, Ristorante Tokuyoshi, Eataly Milano Smeraldo, and Trattoria da Amerigo.
But what made him settled in Taiwan? Love? I recalled Chef gave such a romantic answer on my first visit to INITA. Together with Chef's lovely Taiwanese wife Joyce, they've decided to take root here in Taipei, a place that has been drawing many culinary talents from all over the world due to its booming market, a big opportunity with growing number of finer palates in this little island.
It's a harmonic scene to see, Chef and Joyce work hand in hand from the open kitchen area to table-side service, or should I call it "entertainment?" It's a highly interactive dining experience compared to many other "standard" restaurants. First of all, the main dining area is centered on a big open kitchen with surrounding counter seats. All the actions in the kitchen become a culinary show right in front of the diners.
Even private dining room customers get a bit of the scene. It's also where I've seated for both visits. Chef and Joyce will often come to the room and showcasing the dishes themselves. Towards the main part of the course, private dining room customers can also join the crowd outside to see the pasta making process and some story telling from the Chef.
Instead of the usual formal elegant vibe from a fine dining establishment, INITA was actually quite relaxing, more so fun to be exact.
A little toasting ceremony to start off our night. While the gentlemen got the full glass pairing and the ladies got the half glass pairing to go with our meal, but these orange drinks in the beginning were complimentary welcome drinks from INITA -
These were non-alcoholic beverage inspired by one of Taiwan's summer quenching drinks made with kumquat and lemon. But instead of kumquat and lemon, the actual flavors were coming from lemon, Earl Grey tea syrup, tonic water, and dotted with marigold flower.
The instant flavor hit was like Yakult to me, a type of sweetened probiotic beverage created in Japan. A gentle yet refreshing start of the night.
First there's welcome drink, then our welcome snack ravioli di san su (fern) follows -
Bird's nest fern as main ingredient. Chef Kunihiro Hagimoto tasted the fern stir-fry seasoned with salted black beans at a local Taiwanese restaurant, while having a group dinner with the restaurant staffs. So he took the idea and reshaped the dish with Italian, Japanese, and Taiwan elements.
The fried snack resembles ravioli, with actual usual ravioli fillings inside made with ricotta cheese and anchovy. The fried part was coming from the Japanese tempura frying technique, a bit greenish color from the fern, then served with salted black bean powder on the side.
If food has mind of its own, I think the original stir-fry fern dish will never thought of itself as an inspiration for such a delicate and beautiful dish.
Natural wine, our actual first pairing of the night -
Produced by Denavolo in Italy, Dinavolino Vino Bianco has this beautiful orange hue, which the aroma also reminds me of citrus, apricot, and pear, perhaps a bit sage note in the end.
And that wine for sure goes hand in hand with the seafood course coming up -
Sushigherita 2.0. This might be my favorite course of the night. Even though the name suggest the marriage between Japanese sushi and Italian margherita pizza, but at first glance, this dish looks more like a Mexican tostada to me.
Let it be tostada or pizza, the supposedly tortilla or dough on the bottom is actually made with rice used in risotto. It's thin, airy, and crispy at the same time. On the top you'll find Japanese amberjack that's be aged for five days, a small umami burst with slightly sweet and acid seasonings woven within.
Visually, the green seaweed powder, white stracciatella cheese, and red tomato powder resemble the flag of Italy. One more example of Chef successfully turned the multi-national concept to reality, and a quite delicious one too.
A very pretty-looking Japanese sake -
It's made with red yeast, thus the romantic rosé-like hue as a result, or in a more poetic way, like the color of break of dawn. The flavor is quite refreshing with nicely balanced sweetness and acidity to it, which will soon proven that it works really well with the upcoming INITA's signature dorayaki e tartare dish.
While our server was presenting the sake, you can hear the background noise coming from the main dining area. Kind of like a "ta-da!" sound effect when revealing something. And soon we all found out the noise was from Chef himself, because he just entered our dining room couple minutes later with dorayaki in his hand.
Chef Kunihiro Hagimoto is definitely a lively soul, always smiling and energetic, I'm sure you can describe him as hyper from time to time during dinner service. So the dorayaki, a class Japanese pancake-like sandwich with red bean paste filling has now reinvented into a sweet and savory dish. The castella-like patties remain about the same, but the filling has changed to beef tartare.
After slicing a big round dorayaki in half, Chef awaits his moment to show us the cross-section view of the dorayaki, while making that exciting "tada" sound, like a kid sharing his treasured toy to his friends.
Using Taiwan beef for the filling, which I personally think has a denser beefy aroma compared to American or Australian beef. However, the best assist is the anchovy mayonnaise on the side. This sauce not only boost a umami touch, but intensify the sweetness from the patties and savory flavor from the filling.
The concept is fun, especially when paired with Chef's presentation style. No wonder this dorayaki e tartare has been diners' favorite since INITA's opening date.
Pane e burro -
Ciabatta with burro nocciolato. The hardest part about the bread and butter combo at INITA is that you have to control yourself from devouring the whole thing at once, two big slices per person to be exact. Otherwise you might run out of room to fit all the other dishes to come.
The bread itself had an irresistible crust and perfect airy holes on the inside. Not mentioning the hazelnut-tasting butter. And the best part is that they do give you more than enough butter to eat along with, which is like adding fuel to the already burning fire/appetite.
I was, successful in holding back my desire to finish all the bread. The server came up to me couple times throughout the meal asking if I want the bread to be taken away. "No," I want to save the bread there to be enjoyed once more towards the end of the meal. I was about 80% full after the main wagyu dish, but I did manage to finish the last bits of bread, including all the butter spread. Super full, and also extremely satisfied.
A rare whisky pairing on site -
There's a liquor-related collaboration going on at INITA, so we were given a couple hard liquors for the beverage pairing that night. Otherwise in most cases, you won't find such strong alcoholic drink varieties accompanying a course menu in Taiwan.
A little side dish along the way -
Matsu mussel, rakkyō (a type of Chinese onion), pickled eggplant, and kombu jelly. I think this dish serves like a transition, a slightly stronger seasoned, perhaps a bit pungent bite forecasting the "interesting" risotto coming up.
And the reason why I used the word "interesting" to describe a risotto dish, first of all, it's blue! -
Chef was inspired by a natural phenomenon he saw on his trip to Matsu, one of the islands in Taiwan. Each year around April to September, a type of dinoflagellates with bioluminescent properties can be seen around the ocean in Matsu. Along with the waves, visitors will see the so called "blue tears" glowing light on the water. And I would say Chef Kunihiro Hagimoto's interpretation was quite spot on.
The blue color was from Asian pigeonwings, using Matsu mussel juice with the natural coloring from the flowers. The white potato foam, if you guessed it, just like the bubbles you see on the ocean surface. Before digging in, Chef will spray some Matsu old wine to give the risotto more character.
After a few bite of the risotto, I can see why the Chef decide to pair a usually milder tasting risotto with whisky. It's not your ordinary risotto, nor the heavily dosed with cheese version. The mussels and the old wine were both strong, think of it like a full bodied wine. So together with equally powered whisky with a fruity hint and a smoky end, it all make sense now.
Chef's version of the recent popular Chinese dish with pickled cabbage trend in Taiwan -
Sometimes you'll see an array of similar stores popping up in a short period of time. All the sudden people just went crazy with a certain type of food. Just like boba drinks and fried chicken, it was Chinese pickled cabbage with fish that took over local's spotlight over the last few months.
It's fun to see that Chef Kunihiro Hagimoto can swiftly react to such local craze. His version is of course much more refined, including housemade yuba and three fragrant oil to leveled up the everyday food.
The three fragrant oil including chicken oil, Sichuan peppercorn oil, and parsley oil. If you're up for an extra tingling and numbing effect, server will happily add more Sichuan peppercorn oil as a special treat.
Ruschena natural wine with 100% Ruché grape variety -
Main wagyu dish, also an inspiration from Chef and Joyce's trip to Alishan, a mountainous area known for its sunrise and sea of clouds -
You can definitely tell about the clouds part, as Chef fully demonstrate such view with aromatic smokes using sakura wood. The dish was well-named too, "una Passeggiata nella foresta," meaning a walk in the forest.
Hokkaido F1 wagyu with lots of veggies, fruits, and spices on top. Just like a scene from Alishan Sacred Tree Relics. Together with other dish, I have to give it to Chef Kunihiro Hagimoto, he really has an keen eye and capable of transforming all these sceneries to something not only eye-pleasing but actually are delicious on the plates.
Now it's time for us to join the diners outside, watching the husband and wife team telling a bit of the story behind INITA, and their lovely pasta making scene -
Chef was saying that on that exact night marks the second year of INITA, what a surprise. From what I've experienced so far, INITA is going strong and there will be many more years to come. Us lucky diners.
And that pasta turned into AOP flavored dish, as A stands for aglio/garlic, O stands for olio/oil, and P stands for peperoncino/pepper. We also glamoured it with Australian black winter truffles on top.
The soup part is chicken consommé with Parmesan and egg. You can try the combo separately, or half way through, dump some pasta to the soup and enjoy it like ramen. Once the pasta has combined with the soup, the flavor will be very like a common Japanese instant noodles from Nissin, the chicken ramen with a yellow chick on the package.
I personally like to enjoy this course on their own though, especially there's well-fried garlic in the pasta, and I love that garlicky aroma pops when biting it. The intensity of such aroma will be lost if I turn to soupy ramen.
Kuzukiri di anguria gialla -
Homemade kuzukiri, think of it as transparent gelatinous noodles made with kudzu root. It's one of the traditional sweet treats commonly enjoyed in Japan, especially during summer time. Since it's in noodle form, we were given chopsticks to eat along with.
Chef infused kodama watermelon, lemon granita, and winter melon lemon juice. Seems like we're slowly and gently moving on to a more refreshing route to conclude our dinner.
Surprise surprise, another hard liquor even we've already entered the dessert section -
Just a side note here, we were served cognac, in which some people might simply describe it as brandy. But do know that yes, you can say cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is cognac. To be a cognac, you have to follow a certain rules and restrictions, let it be grape varieties, distilled method, aging, etc.
Corn brûlée that looks like a sunflower from top -
A little sweet and savory combo we've got there, with gelato alla crema, fruit corn, and a specialty sugar from Japan, this is something that both the adult and kids would enjoy, even when paired with strong cognac.
To a more refined layer, you'll also find corn cookie, corn mousse, popcorn sautéed with extra virgin olive oil, and corn powder.
Look how how many glasses we've used -
I got cold brew Alishan Jin Xuan tea to go with the last dessert course, refillable too -
Last dessert was a fancy one, they even brought out the liquid nitrogen to make the INITA style daifuku mochi -
Daifuku is a type of Japanese confection, here the wrapping was flavored with roselle, and the sweet filling was changed from the traditional red bean paste to mixed juice. With the help of liquid nitrogen, you'll get an almost ice cream-like filling but with slightly harden crust and runny center.
Good thing we have four people here, so I can video and take pictures with others' mochi first. When it's my turn, I can then quickly devour the delicate dessert before the temperature rises again.
By the way, Chef's bubbly personality was acting again, that "tada" show reappeared when he revealed the nicely wrapped daifuku in his hand.
Chef is from Osaka, Japan. You know there's a general belief that people from Osaka are friendlier and very outgoing. Well, it's not like I have a ton of friends from Osaka, but counting on the few that I've known for years, they really all do have such easy going personality. Maybe that explains a little about the restaurant style at INITA.
While I was sipping tea, Mister got moka coffee instead, with coffee beans from local Moonshine Coffee Roasters -
That should be the end of our meal, but just right before we're ready to head out, Chef brought over a Japanese plum wine from Tsukinowa to share -
It wasn't just an ordinary plum wine, it was plum and apple combined so you get more fruity aroma compare to others. A nice touch to end the night.
It was my second time visiting INITA, and the experience was just like what I remembered, fun and welcoming paired with modern food with a bit Italian, Japanese, and Taiwanese twists. I can see that the Taiwanese influence has grown compared to the dishes I had in the first year. More integration of local ingredients, the inspiration from Chef's off-time traveling in Taiwan, even the local's current trending dishes were noted and put on the table.
Of course many other similar tier restaurants do the same, but it's Chef's keen eye and lively personalities transformed into his cooking. Making the dishes and the vibe at INITA unique.
Overall, it was a privilege dining on the the exact date of INITA's second anniversary. Seeing the entire restaurant filled with smiles and sometimes bursting laughter as a result of Chef Kunihiro Hagimoto presentation "acts," INITA is going strong and I can't wait to see what other tricks, let it be food-wise or interaction-wise will come many years down the road.
INITA currently holds one Michelin star status.
INITA
1F., No. 1, Aly. 52, Ln. 12, Sec. 3, Bade Rd.,
Songshan Dist., Taipei, Taiwan
+886 2 2577 0886
Restaurant website: https://www.inita.tw/zh-tw/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inita.tw
Online reservation: TableCheck for INITA
Opening hours:
Tuesday through Saturday 6:45 p.m. ~ 10:00 p.m.
Sunday and Monday off
Extended reading:
INITA review in Chinese back in April 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment