Meeting of Minds

A group of top chefs gathered for a one-of-a-kind culinary retreat at Shishi-Iwa House in Karuizawa last autumn for a dose of tranquillity.

- AMY VAN

Shis-Iwa House (SSH), which is nestled in a nature sanctuary in Karuizawa, Japan, brought together six top chefs for a private culinary retreat last fall. The objective? To gain some inspiration and explore their creativity in this tranquil, design-driven setting.

Shishi-Iwa House is a collection of three architectural masterpieces designed by Pritzker Prize laureates Shigeru Ban and Ryue Nishizawa. The unique boutique hotel is about an hour’s train ride from Tokyo.

The five chefs who were invited were Ricardo Chaneton of Mono, Hong Kong; Jordy Navarra of Toyo Eatery, Manila; Johanne Siy of Lolla, Singapore; Barry Quek of Whey, Hong Kong; and Coleman Griffin of Sower in Lake Biwa, Japan. Chef Masashi Okamoto of Shola (the restaurant at Shishi-Iwa House No.2), and the rest of the hotel’s dedicated team welcomed their international guests for this extraordinary experience.

And what do chefs do when they get together? Cook and eat together of course.

On the first day, the chefs visited Duca Farm, an organic farm to source for vegetables and herbs. Japanese farmer Yusuke Iizuka gave them a tour of his farm and harvested a range of root veggies, purslane, nasturtium leaves, and other produce for the chefs to lug back.

In the evening, the culinary experts congregated in the kitchen to experiment with their farm-fresh ingredients – in a rather spontaneous cook-out session. A small group of invited guests got to feast on their unique 12 hands menu.

Camaraderie in the kitchen