Devotional Dining at Kajitsu
One of the most important restaurants in the US is an unassuming spa-like vegan restaurant in New York’s East Village. Kajitsu serves Shojin cuisine, an ancient form of Zen Buddhist devotional food from Japan.
Hyper-seasonal—the menu is overhauled every month—the restaurant also rotates talented young Japanese chefs, making it one of the odder kitchens to receive a coveted two Michelin stars. And it is inexpensive for this caliber of cooking, with an eight course “Hana” running just $70.
I was able to eat here both when Masato Nishihara was chef, as well as when new chef Ryota Ueshima took over behind the counter. The quality and level of mastery is impeccable.
It is de rigeur these days to celebrate fresh greens, seeds, legumes, and mushrooms in the peak of their season, but little prepares the average American diner for the force and delicacy with which this ethos is practiced at Kajitsu.
Seasons are captured visually on the plate as much as through flavors. Dishes are often stunning. In one enchantingly memorable arrangement, vegetables and mushrooms were cut to look like scattered fall leaves.
Chefs as diverse as Momofuku’s David Chang and Alinea’s Grant Achatz have cited Kajitsu’s elegant tastes and textures as inspiration for some of their own dishes.
After a meal here, I’m willing to concede that maybe Zen Buddhists are right— it is possible achieve enlightenment through asceticism. This cuisine defines the concept of ‘wise eating’ —consuming only nourishing foods that are simple, purifying, and uplifting.
For vegans, vegetarians, and gourmands who want to appreciate the aesthetic and culinary pleasures of exceptionally beautiful ingredients artfully and skillfully composed, Kajitsu is a must.
Cold onion soup, spring garden nama-fu, mushroom sukiyaki
andré darlington 