Rendezvous Kitchen: Japanese Home Cooking, Memories, and Stories Around the Table
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by Caroline Ishii
The inspiration behind this intimate dinner is to share the food and stories I write about in my book Rendezvous: Stories of love, loss, identity and belonging; taste memories of my childhood, popular items from my restaurant ZenKitchen, dishes learned during my travels, and recipes passed down through generations.
I’ve always believed that food can be beautiful, delicious, and fun. As my late father, George, used to say, food always tastes better shared, and I agree. When I used to visit him, some of our happiest moments were spent sharing food together. Those are the moments I remember most when I think of him.
Before opening ZenKitchen, I began with pop-up supper clubs and secret menus in secret locations. Those dinners grew in popularity and eventually led to the restaurant. That is one reason I was so excited to discover The Depanneur after my recent move to Toronto. It reminded me of the joy of gathering people around a table for something intimate and meaningful.
The menu includes sunomono, a cucumber salad I write about in The Accidental Chef because making it with my mother brought both joy and tears.
There will also be inarizushi, sometimes affectionately called “bag rice,” a familiar dish at Japanese Canadian family gatherings. It is not the fancy sushi many people associate with restaurants, but a humble, beloved home-style food.
Japanese curry is one of the most popular foods for children and adults in Japan. It is gently spiced, slightly sweet, rich, and comforting, with heat added to taste. I’ll be serving it with fermented brown adzuki rice, which I learned to make while training at a macrobiotic restaurant in Tokyo.
And, of course, there will be pickles. Pickles are an essential part of Japanese meals, and I’ll be serving takuwan, the kind of pickle Japanese Canadians made with what was available during the WWII internment.
There will also be dengaku (miso-glazed) tofu, which was very popular at ZenKitchen. I’ll be combining the miso with local rhubarb to give it extra zing.
The meal will end with matcha chocolate ginger truffles. Guests were always so happy when we ended their meals at the restaurant with truffles that I started calling them “the happy ending,” and the name stuck.
This menu is inspired by memory, family, the stories we carry over time, and play. I hope guests will leave with their own stories gathered from this dinner, and smiles.
There are still a few seats available at the table. I hope you can join us!