Premium chefs of Kumamoto

In the corner of an office building in Kamidori, a bustling area of Kumamoto City, you’ll find the Japanese restaurant Fukiya. It is skillfully managed by the owner, a skilled artisan, along with his kind and smiling dining room manager. The restaurant’s interior is paneled with wood from Kumamoto Prefecture, and the joinery and carvings radiate warmth and a sense of luxury. With its calm color scheme, the space feels like a hideout for adults. The artwork on display, painted by the chef himself, evokes the seasons, creating an atmosphere steeped in hospitality that makes customers feel at home. A peek at the immaculately maintained kitchen, with its shiny pots and neatly arranged seasonings, gives one the feeling that “the cuisine created here is truly delicious.”

Chef Osamu Fukiya trained at Kosenkaku in Hyogo and at Dojima Irie in Osaka before opening Fukiya in his hometown of Kumamoto. He strives to create cuisine that evokes the seasons, the seasonal flavors, abundance, the lingering taste of the ingredients, and the essence of the mountains and the sea to the fullest extent.

Fukiya’s specialty is Kumamoto sake. This sake is not just for sipping. Kumamoto Prefecture’s local sake is also used in food preparation. For instance, red sake, a traditional sake of the Kumamoto region, is still made according to the traditional Japanese sake brewing method of adding wood ash during production. People in Kumamoto Prefecture have long loved drinking it for their New Year’s sake. In cooking, red sake has the effect of allowing the ingredients to be cooked without hardening their proteins, and at Fukiya, it is used in place of mirin when preparing certain foods.

With Fukiya’s Premium Menu, diners can savor the rich flavors of the appetizers, assorted sashimi, simmered dishes, and grilled dishes. The main attraction is the home-made karasumi (dried mullet roe). Every year, the chef and the dining room manager painstakingly make their own karasumi from mullet roe, using red sake in the preservation process. The karasumi made this year and last year, as well as karasumi aged in prior years, is arranged on a special platter made for the Premium Menu at the Hagimigama kiln in Kumamoto Prefecture’s Uki City. Taste comparisons are made worldwide, but Fukiya is the only restaurant, even in Japan, where one can compare the flavors of the sophisticated delicacy called karasumi. One can enjoy an extravagant time as the dense flavors spread throughout one’s mouth while sipping cup after cup of sake.

The real pleasure of Fukiya is to be able to savor a relaxing and luxurious moment, which is conveyed by the gentle personalities of the chef and the dining room manager. Once you visit, you’ll want to return again. We hope you include this renowned restaurant on your list of must-see destinations.