The Typical Japanese Summer Menu

The typical Japanese summer menu with all its simplicities becomes hyper-sophisticated under Takeshi Araki, Head Chef of Esora.

- Bryan Goh

Hello Chef Araki! To start this interview, I’d like to ask about the theme of the menu: Summer. I’m wondering, did you have a “mood board” in your mind when you were planning it?

Hello Bryan, we are inspired by nature and seasons and start by gathering the produce of the land, mountain, and sea that nature brings us each season as well as the flavours we want to deliver.

Funnily enough, I did a weather check and Hiroshima in August seems to have the same temperature as Singapore. could Esora’s Summer menu be relevant for Singapore throughout the entire year?

Summers in Hiroshima can be very hot and humid – there can be periods of good weather, with maximum temperatures of around 35 degrees Celsius, tropical nights, and high humidity, but also periods of bad weather due to the summer monsoon. Unlike Singapore, our rainy season in Hiroshima is June – July; June is often the wettest month, with August being the hottest month.

If you close your eyes right now, what comes to mind thinking of Summer?

Probably the sight of mountains, and waterfalls, and engaging in outdoor activities like hiking and camping. I see dandelions, sunflowers, and local summer festivals (Natsu Matsuri). Matsuri is a local festival held in each village and town, where there will be small stands and booths set up to sell food. Some of their food items include sweet corn, green pepper, tomato, and grilled eggplant – all the summer vegetables I enjoy eating. When I close my eyes, the colours that come to mind are mostly green - a deep green, because of the mountains; as well as yellow, because the rice paddies are in full bloom during this period, just before being harvested in autumn.