Tohoku Heroes Returns at Park Hyatt Tokyo

Chef Kenichiro Ooe, Executive Chef at Kozue, is launching phase two of the Tokohu Heroes dinner series in support of the eponymous region effected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Chef Ooe is from the Tohoku region making the cause quite personal. The menus will highlight the local produce, rice and sake of AkitaYamagata, and Aomori prefectures in September, October, and November. Chef Ooe first launched the Tohoku Heroes in 2013 highlighting Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima Prefecture and is bringing it back this fall to showcase the remaining three regions.

 

Meeting the producers: Chef Ooe visited each prefecture to meet the local producers and hand select the items for the specialty menus.

  • ·         Akita

Chef Ooe just recently returned from Akita Prefecture to prepare for the September program and met with producers of hinaidori chicken and rare local vegetables and fruits, seafood vendors specializing in fish from the Sea of Japan, and reputable Japanese sake makers.

 

When

  • ·         Akita Prefecture: Saturday, September 5 to Wednesday, September 30, 2015
  • ·         Yamagata Prefecture: Tuesday, October 6 to Tuesday, November 3, 2015
  • ·         Aomori Prefecture: Thursday, November 5 to Monday, November 30, 2015

 

 

About Chef Ooe

Kenichiro Ooe, Chef de Cuisine, Kozue at Park Hyatt Tokyo

 

Born in 1960, Chef Kenichiro Ooe began his culinary training at the age of 20, learning the cuisine of Kyoto. In 1980, Chef Kenichiro familiarized himself with the cuisine of the Kansai region of western Japan by training at Honten Hamasaku, a prestigious restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza.

 

Chef Kenichiro spent the next four years at Kagaya restaurant in Tokyo’s lively Akasaka district, where he explored the cuisine of northern Japan. From 1987 to 1989, he moved to Shikitei restaurant, learning the style and techniques of kaiseki. It was during this time that Chef Kenichiro also obtained his license for handling Fugu. In 1989, he accepted a post as chef de cuisine at Tachikichi in Kichijoji, a Tokyo restaurant specialising in seafood. The following year, he was hired as chef de cuisine at Koyou, a kaiseki restaurant in Ginza.

 

Chef Kenichiro joined Park Hyatt Tokyo when it opened in 1994 as chef de cuisine of Kozue. Deeply knowledgeable and skilled in all the principal styles of traditional Japanese cuisine, Chef Kenichiro is the man behind the elegant, artful meals served at Kozue. As the restaurant’s chef de cuisine, he has created a menu that spans a range of culinary pleasures, from hearty, country-style dishes to his own innovative interpretation of kaiseki cuisine.

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