I have worked in my fair share of kitchens over the years. At some stage while toiling at each, someone ¡ª usually a chef ¡ª would lose their temper with me and regain it only after loudly roasting me with words not fit for a newspaper. I thought of these episodes while sitting at the counter of Kakomi and observing chef and owner Kazuki Kakoiyama and his small team of chefs and waiting staff.
It¡¯s only a slight exaggeration to say you¡¯d need to be psychic to pick up on what passes between them. Like many other kappo (counter-style restaurants) that serve haute cuisine, nothing must get between a patron and their food ¡ª especially the idle chit-chat of kitchen staff.
But the mood at Kakomi isn¡¯t somber: Chef Kakoiyama is jovial and enterprising. He also has that sixth sense of knowing when conversation is warranted, and when it¡¯s excessive. Interactions with him usually involve him helping you decipher a dish ¡ª like an artist called on to explain some abstraction. The first dish definitely needed its own Cliffs Notes.
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