The Pianist Chef
Many know Junya Yanagidaira of いろのみ by his sparkling piano sound, and also from his collaboration in our song “Landscape With A Fairy”. But probably not many know the taste of his delicious, artistic culinary creations. Having trained and worked at a famous French restaurant in his early years, Junya is, by no surprise, an amazing chef/patissier.
The talented man is now master chef at Harmonotte cafe along Meiji-dori in Shibuya, where he also sometimes springs a surprise performance with his upright piano for diners.
Each dish had been christened with an imaginative name that just brought to mind the poetry in いろのみ’s song titles…
“The pork that has woken up after three days of winter sleep in salt water”
“The pork that swims in a pool of cherry wine”
Ricks chilling out in between each course.
Dessert was “mother’s taste Tiramisu cake“. This was his mother’s recipe, straight from their family kitchen in Nagano. I felt like i was flying through clouds. It was soft, fluffy with a subtle sweetness and with an incredible depth.
Just as we thought we had finished an amazing lunch, Junya suddenly announces in closing he would play for us a farewell song called 「流星」(shooting star). I sat and listened and watched dumbfounded. It was beautiful beyond description. The entire cafe applauded and Ricks grabbed Junya for a hug. I tried to say something but was too overwhelmed to find the right words in Japanese.
photo by harmonotte ten-cho, Yuuka
We left the cafe as the sun was setting. Unfortunately, Harmonotte cafe’s last day of business will be on 28th December this year but i’m just sure somehow and somewhere we’ll be able to taste Junya’s creations again. Till then i’ll be looking forward to that day.