Kyoto ¨C In late March, Kyoto¡¯s luxury hotel boom gained another entrant with the opening of Capella Kyoto ¡ª but the property¡¯s most compelling attraction may be SoNoMa, a new restaurant from SingleThread chef Kyle Connaughton that filters kaiseki (Japanese haute cuisine) through a distinctly Californian lens.
Shortly after the restaurant¡¯s official debut, I¡¯m greeted with a welcome drink ¡ª warm blood-orange juice with toasted cardamom ¡ª before being led to the 12-seat counter. The meal begins with a seasonal hassun platter served as an amuse-bouche: firefly squid in a shungiku (garland chrysanthemum) and chimichurri sauce, kasugodai (young sea bream) sushi and cherry blossom mochi with duck liver pate sprinkled with »å¨³¾²â¨Âá¾±°ì´Ç (coarse powder made from glutinous rice) and wrapped in a salted cherry blossom leaf.
What Connaughton and his team serve next is at once at home in any kaiseki course yet has touches of Californian flavor and the U.S. state¡¯s sense of creative freedom. In place of the traditional suimono (clear-broth soup) is Akaushi beef from Kumamoto Prefecture served in shabu-shabu broth, and the tsukuri (sashimi) is kinmedai (splendid alfonsino) and aji (horse mackerel) with housemade ponzu and shiranui mandarin drizzled with olive oil from Sonoma County. The nimono (braised dish) is takenoko (bamboo shoots) charcoal-grilled and brushed with chicken stock reduction, flanked by a selection of sansai (edible wild plants) including pickled nobiru (Japanese wild onion) and tempura of a leaf from the koshiabura tree.
Heartier bites come in the grilled dish: a fillet of sakuramasu (cherry trout) smoked in a donabe (traditional clay pot) and served with clear dashi and acidic plum. The same dish often features at SingleThread with sablefish, nori pesto and Parmesan cheese, but at SoNoMa?these subtle alterations highlight the Japanese culinary concept of light, pure flavors known as ¡°tanmi.¡± Kyoto-sourced Nanatani duck, raised to the northeast of the city center, also pairs excellently with two 2020 pinot noirs: Peay Vineyards Savoy and Morey-Saint-Denis by Domaine Arlaud.
SingleThread executive pastry chef Emma Horowitz and SoNoMa¡¯s head pastry chef Miu Morita curate a sweet ending to the meal served inside a Shiga-yaki ceramic box. Inside are bite-size wagashi (traditional Japanese confectioneries): monaka (thin wafers sandwiching a sweet filling) with ³ó¨Âá¾±³¦³ó²¹ and chocolate ice cream ¡ª the latter made by San Francisco-based single-origin Dandelion Chocolate ¡ª that bear the SingleThread emblem; and °ì´Ç³ó²¹°ì³Ü³Ù¨ (sweetened, melted agar) flavored with bergamot and topped with a sprig of thyme.
The burst of green that ends the meal nods to SingleThread¡¯s Californian roots, a sensibility Connaughton seems delightfully unable to forget, even after permanently setting up shop in Kyoto.
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