Kajitsu

I went to my first Michelin starred restaurant on Tuesday!

It was Kajitsu, a vegetarian restaurant that serves shojin cuisine.

I ordered the Hana courses, and it began with a green tea rice porridge in this elaborately wrapped box.

Since the menu changes monthly, the green tea rice porridge represented May, a time for harvesting tea and planting rice.

Several courses followed, each with unfamiliar and exciting flavors.

One course had sassafras jelly with pepper on top.

Another had a tiny slice of some unknown vegetable (that exploded with flavor) neatly placed on top of the daikon in the soup.

Everything was very delicious.

For dessert, there was a mochi with just the right amount of sweetness in the filling.

I’ve had a lot of bean fillings, and none of them were this good.

At the very end, the chef prepared a cup of matcha tea for us along with some candy.

The chef meticulously brushed the cups and rotated the cups three times in his hand before handing it to us, just like a tea ceremony. I felt tingly all over when I drank the matcha.

Since the matcha was a little bitter, I was advised to nibble on the candy while sipping the tea. While all made of sugar, each piece of the candy had surprisingly different texture. I loved them!

The overall dinner was an extraordinary experience. I liked the food, the atmosphere, and the ceremonious presentation of the food. It definitely met my expectation of a Michelin starred restaurant!