Premium chefs of Kumamoto

Prolougue

contents

• Story 1 Chef’s Story “A new dining experience that begins in Nagomi”
• Story 2 Story with Producers “Encounters are like fermentation”
• Story 3 Premium Menu “A dining experience co-created by chef and gathered guests”

Story 1 Chef’s Story

A new dining experience that begins in Nagomi

To eat is to live. Eating is not simply an action; rather, our encounters with food bring feelings of happiness… Hiromi Tominaga of Peg, a restaurant based in Nagomi, is one of the chefs who give people that happiness.

After graduating from an agricultural high school in his hometown, he attended culinary school in Fukuoka, and at the age of 20, he moved to Tokyo. Diving into the world of French cuisine, Chef Hiromi went to train in France before opening his restaurant in Kumamoto City in August 2015. Among the unique stores lined up on Kaminouradori, he opened a bistro offering natural wines and healthy dishes made with local ingredients from Kumamoto.

Catering to foodies looking for the next best thing, Peg became an instant success. At the same time, Chef Hiromi was faced with a dilemma: he was too busy to take time for family. “Relocating was the natural next step. When my oldest daughter moved to the next school grade, I decided to change my lifestyle.” So, in the spring of 2023, Chef Hiromi moved the restaurant to his hometown, Nagomi in Tamana District, and made a fresh start.

Peg serves organic-based food that is also defined as “our own.” “I want to create something that is organic in our own style. I look for recipes that best showcase the ingredients’ flavor, with care for the people I’ve met and the produce they’ve grown. At Peg, I serve those dishes to guests and give them the time to savor these dishes,” explains Chef Hiromi.

The recipes focus on seasonal ingredients, whose flavors are enhanced with salt, sugar, and vinegar.

“I apply the wisdom of our ancestors, like the umeboshi. In my cooking, I use many ingredients that I have prepared and fermented. I wonder what they’ll taste like; even when I don’t know the answer, I try things out continuously, experiment after experiment.” Both the restaurant we visited and Hiromi’s home are filled with many glass jars of fermented blueberries, loquat seeds, persimmons, nashi pears, sudachi, limes, and more, waiting for their time as they ferment and mature.

Story 2 Story with Producers

Encounters are like fermentation.

According to Chef Hiromi, food is akin to fermentation, but this also applies to human relations. “Human relations and encounters are simple. If you can ferment with the people you meet, your relationship will mature as well.”

This is true for producers of ingredients as well as ceramic artists. Peg is supported by so many people that it would be impossible to present them all here.

Mr. and Mrs. Takada of Toyono, Takaranouen, in Uki City, supply organic vegetables, with a focus on open-pollinated native cultivars.

They practice the kind of agriculture that takes time and perseverance, collecting seeds from carefully selected vegetables and planting them for the next season. They are one of the few producers of heirloom vegetables in Japan, and they grow 50–60 varieties per year.

They have worked with Chef Hiromi for seven years. “Their vegetables are just delicious. Even something like daikon can come in so many varieties. I’m in awe of these differences. And we only get to eat them because someone shared the seeds with us. When I think about that, again, I’m left in awe.”

This time, Chef Hiromi insisted on using tableware from Mayumi Kama, a workshop located only five minutes away by car. Ryoji Mayumi learned traditional pottery methods at the kiln where he apprenticed; hence, his works are usually called Shodai wares. However, every piece of tableware he makes is an original, full of unique character. With beautiful colors and a weight that sits just right on one’s hand, they have a unique and recognizable feel.

They are sold at HIKE, a café and guest house in Tamana City. However, their popularity keeps Mr. Mayumi extremely busy. Peg is currently using his wares as bread plates, but Chef Hiromi has been imploring him: “I’ll wait years if I have to— please make me some main course plates!” We are looking forward to their arrival.

Next is the bread that is served midway through the meal. Great on its own or with a sauce, this carefully selected bread, which perfectly complements Peg’s cuisine, is the work of Chef Hiromi’s wife.

Located in the main house and open four days a week—Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday—ROK bakery is filled with rows of bread made with homemade yeast.

“I avoid whole wheat flour, which tastes too strong. Rather, I make bread with a high water content and aged for a long period of time to bring out the simple flavor of the dough. I start preparing the dough two days before opening; on opening day, I wake up early to bake the bread. I count backwards from the start of the menu at 12 to make sure it is just ready for lunch,” says Kanako Tominaga.

Like her husband, she is not taken in by words like “organic” or “pesticide-free.” Rather, she selects the ingredients to use after meeting the producers and seeing “how amazing they are.” Each loaf of bread you get to eat at the restaurant is filled with the thoughts of many people—“Who made the salt, who made the rice…”

The meat course tells the story of a producer who played a key role in Chef Hiromi’s decision to open a restaurant in Kumamoto and in his solid concept. “As I prepared to open the restaurant in Kumamoto, I was looking for producers that I could really trust. That’s when I met Mr. Yano of Tamana Bokujo He then introduced me to many of his fellow producers and friends.”

As the name implies, Tamana Bokujo is a livestock farm located in Tamana City. At the end of a mountain road, Mr. Yano has cleared the woods to create a pasture. A piece of land that is 3 times the size of the Tokyo Dome is home to a small herd of just 32 Jersey cattle. Mr. Yano is a dairy farmer known throughout Japan for his unique fattening method, where cattle are raised using natural practices, with no grain feed or formula feed. The menu features Lumière, a mature cheese fermented with yeast, and char-grilled veal.

The reason Chef Hiromi chose veal is an issue in the livestock industry that remains unknown to the greater public.

“As a dairy farm, we need cows that produce milk. In our case, one bull is enough. Currently, of the calves that are born, most of the males are culled and discarded. We don’t want their lives to be for nothing… So we give them a name, raise them with care for six months, slaughter and butcher them, and put them to good use in restaurants and other places,” explains Mr. Yano, looking at the still young calves.

“The veal raised at Tamana Bokujo is high in protein and delicious. We prepare it with the utmost care.” When Chef Hiromi receives a dressed carcass from Mr. Yano, he always asks for its name.

The food served at Peg is a product of people’s encounters, and their fermentation and maturation. Beyond the delicious flavor, you might taste a hint of that power.

Story 3 Premium Menu

A dining experience co-created by the chef and gathered guests

Peg only serves lunch, starting from 12 PM. A maximum of eight guests are served per day. Each day, guests who are meeting for the first time sit side-by-side at the counter and enjoy a meal together.

The building where the meal is served is made of biodegradable materials. “We buy as little as possible, and use whatever is available. The master carpenter called workers from all parts of Kyushu to complete the restaurant.” The restaurant uses recycled wood furnishings, and the walls are made of bamboo mai clay. They are built with bamboo shoots from the surrounding area and groves and clay made from fermented pesticide-free rice straw. The use of natural materials is another expression of Chef Hiromi’s beliefs.

Once the guests are seated and waiting for their first dish… Chef Hiromi sits at counter with the them and begins brewing tea. The guests sit in silence, with no background music. The only sounds is the tea being poured.

“I want to create a sense of unity between the guests at the restaurant, and myself, too. That is why, at the start of the menu, we drink tea.” Chef Hiromi selects tea from Kyushu producers and enjoys the first and second infusion together with the guests.

As you drink the tea, you are naturally transported far away from everyday life and feel at one with the space… Perhaps this is what Chef Hiromi calls “fermentation.”

Starting with an amuse-bouche, the Premium Menu consists of nine courses, including four starters, fish and meat courses, and dessert. The food is paired with natural wines and non-alcoholic drinks. Perhaps because the restaurant is in Nagomi, many guests select alcohol-free options, with many non-alcoholic drinks made with fermented syrups.

The guests seated at the counter enjoy seeing the dishes being prepared. As the chef prepares the food right before their eyes, he tells truly fascinating stories about producers.

Takaranouen winged beans and manganji peppers are coated in rice flour; steamed; and served with lightly seared spear squid, Korean chili and soy sauce, and a salty-sweet sauce made with homemade Japanese plum syrup. This dish is served with the bitter oolong tea leaves brewed at the start of the meal and fragrant crushed peanuts.

On the plate are thread-sail filefish steamed with ginger, char-grilled log-grown shiitake mushroom, and a homemade krill koji made from krill and salted koji. The dish is garnished with broth made from thread-sail filefish bones and yuzu leaves, freshly picked by Chef Hiromi, who stepped out of the restaurant midway through the meal to get them.

“I got my hands on some raw krill, so I tried to put it in salted koji. Thanks to my fish supplier, I get to discover these rare ingredients sometimes.” The krill koji is surprisingly delicious, and it perfectly complements the thread-sail filefish.

The broth can be sipped on its own or poured onto the dish, so you can enjoy this plate in a variety of ways. The world that opens up on the plate is surprisingly vast and full of potential.

This is a dish that perfectly encapsulates Tamana Bokujo, whose veal is used with care, right down to the bones. Tamana Bokujo cheese is served with veal stock and miso sauce. The dual fermentation creates a soft, light flavor that is a perfect match for the meat. The deep-fried great burdock fritters used to represent the pasture are another spot-on accent.

“I like the encounters I make when I go somewhere in person.” Chef Hiromi’s cuisine is fascinatingly unpredictable. Peg’s atmosphere transforms to suit the customers that have gathered, and so does Chef Hiromi’s cooking. It is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter to be enjoyed wondering how things will ferment and mature.