「亡き旦那の店は私が守る」若女将が板前になる為に修行…家族経営の軌跡に密着

「亡き旦那の店は私が守る」若女将が板前になる為に修行…家族経営の軌跡に密着

From young proprietress to the fourth generation, Aya Ukita. At first, my husband was the owner of the restaurant, and he was standing at the board room, And I was working as a young proprietress to support him, My husband was ill and he passed away very early, I’m just trying to figure out how to keep the store going, I closed the restaurant myself for a while and went into training, I became a chef, and I stand at the counter. (How did you feel when the proprietress decided to take over the restaurant?) I was very happy. Normally, they would say, “Your husband has died, so I’m going home with the kids, I don’t know what to say, I’m going to take over with me.I’m going to take over with me, It’s the best. It really is my life, that boy. Komatsu city, Ishikawa prefecture. Established in 1939.Kappo Sushi Yonehachi. The fourth generation of the family, who became a chef, is closely involved in a day to day operation of the restaurant. Aya Ukita, the 4th generation owner. Kimie-san, the grand landlady. The first thing in the morning begins with the preparation of “Ataka-no-Kansho Sushi”. Sekisho-zushi is a local delicacy of Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture. There are four kinds of this, mackerel, sockeye salmon, shrimp, and sea bream. （I make sushi in the restaurant as soon as people ask for it, Basically, they are sold at Komatsu Airport, Komatsu Station, and Aeon Mall at Komatsu Roadside Station. Ataka-no-Kansho Sushi is made in the traditional way. It is a pressed sushi stick wrapped in a bamboo skin. How much do you make a day? I knew that if there is an event, it is like 100 units. In the past, yes, we sold them for 500 at festivals. Carefully wiping the bamboo bark for wrapping. Even the packaging is done by hand, one by one. They are prepared this early. Yes, I do!In the morning, usually after 8:00 am, I prepare the sushi at the barrier, I always prepare for the restaurant after the delivery. We all share the work and finish it up together. Packing into a cosmetic box. I finish about 9:30, this work, Delivery from about this time, a little bit of work, I start preparing the fish when the fish are ready, We’re winding up a lot today. The grand landlady goes out to deliver sushi at the barrier. The head chef, Shohei Kamai. Aloe, yes, using sweet potato and aloe, I’m serving it with matcha green tea, like matcha ae, I saw aloe at the market, and I thought, “I’m going to use it, I put it in boiling water to get rid of the sliminess. Start preparing rice. It’s a little bit too watery, isn’t it?but I do it with Koshihikari rice. A small amount of alcohol. Sugar, salt, and vinegar are combined to make sushi vinegar. Aloe is boiled. (white sauce) is the sweeter the better. If I do it in autumn, I use persimmon or other fruits, because I like shiro-toyaki better. Do you use a knife every day? I try to sharpen them every day in my spare time. I use urei, which is basically a kind of wild vegetable that can be found in Niigata, This is served with boiled vegetables. Dashi is made from kombu (kelp). Finish preparation and go out for shopping. He always goes to the fish store and the grocery store to buy. There I ask what ingredients are in season and decide the menu for each month. You are 24 now, and this year will be your 25th year. How did you get into the store? The proprietress and my mother knew each other.
　 I had always said I was going to be a chef ever since I can remember, Since I was three years old, my dream was always to be a chef. He studied cooking for a year at a culinary school in Osaka and started working at the age of 19. He continued to work as a chef in Osaka for 5 years. Both his grandfather and father were cooks. Arrived at the fish store. Do you feel like you can decide what to stock by looking at it on the day? I’ve already placed an order for what I want, After that, if there’s something in season, I kind of look at it and buy it. Mr. Kamai looks seriously at fish in season. He asks about the characteristics and utilization of the ingredients. Thank you! Arriving at the grocery store. Examining seasonal vegetables while listening to the owner. The proprietress is preparing the food in the store. For the next day. Rice is cooked. (About the rice) We matched them in school. I did, but it’s still different from what I was originally taught at Yonehachi, There are various ways to do it, so I’m trying to think about it in my own way, I’m doing it now. Transferring the combined shari. Back to the store after buying. When did you get dressed?I changed my clothes!I’m going to process fish and stuff now. What kind of fish is this? Sago chub.Around here, it’s sago sago wagtail, Japanese Spanish mackerel. It seems to be caught this morning, I’m going to let it sit for a day or two. Kohada, yes, it’s a little bit big. Head off, guts removed. This is a horse mackerel. Bai clam. This is a Yari squid. A horse mackerel is cut into three pieces. Remove small bones carefully. This is a bai clam.This is used for nigiri today. When I use it for sashimi, I don’t break the shell, but I take it out from the shell, When I use it for sushi, it’s faster. The shellfish is washed with salt. Boil “Uru-rui” (Alaska Pollack). Grand landlady returns from delivery. This is tofu.Silk strained tofu, once scraped with hot water, And then you take out all the smells and stuff, and then you weigh it down, I’ve also drained out the water, and now I’m going to make a tofu paste. Smooth with a mortar. Sprinkle matcha green tea over scraped tofu. Matcha green tea with tofu paste. Combine with boiled aloe. I’m probably the only one doing this. I try to do everything by hand as much as possible. I put wolfberries on top of it. Aloe and sweet potato with green tea. I tasted it. Sweet but refreshing. Kohada is soaked in salt and vinegar, then tightened. This is sakura trout. I rarely put trout or salmon as a story and only at this time of the year. The cutting board should not turn green when cutting leeks. Because you are destroying the leek fibers. Call this azuki bai clam, The black part and this part has a smell and a slippery taste, We’re going to clean these up now, one at a time, like this. Top is after cleaning up.Bottom is before cleaning up. It is totally different, isn’t it?Yes, it is. The salt is washed off the cohada. Next, we soak it in vinegar. Preparations for opening proceed. Yonehachi has been in business for 87 years.The interior is made of all hinoki cypress, which the founder used in the Kaga Hosho-style. The store has been inherited without any modification except for repairing at the time of the earthquake. How did he take over the store?He moved to Komatsu when he got married. At first, my husband was standing in front of the board as the owner, And I was working as a young proprietress in support of him, My husband was sick and he passed away very early, where we were trying to figure out how to continue the store, I closed the store for a while myself, and I was sent for training, I became a chef, and I stand at the counter. Did you have any experience as an itamae? Not at all. Although I did help my husband with some things, I didn’t have any experience of actually holding a knife, or processing fish, or anything like that. How did you learn how to do that? At first, I consulted with the owner of a sushi restaurant in Kanazawa, who introduced me to the restaurant, The owner of that restaurant told me that I should start studying right away, He let me go into the store from there, and I learned from the ground up. And then there was also a sushi school, I went to Tokyo by myself to attend a two-month intensive course, I was able to learn technology there as well. I reopened the store last August, It’s almost a year now. It was originally a family owned business, When I thought about continuing to run the store, my child is still in the fourth grade, When my husband passed away, he was still in the first grade of elementary school, If this child wants to take over the store in the future, And I feel very sorry for her if she doesn’t have a store, until the time when he can somehow make a choice about his future, I guess the first thing I wanted to do was to keep the restaurant going. （I am often told that people think I am their real mother because I have the same atmosphere as their mother, She is my husband’s mother, so now it is just my mother, me and my son. Lunch nigiri: 3,500 yen.Top nigiri 10 pcs. 5,500yen. There are 3 kinds of course at night. Order Kami-nigiri (hand-formed sushi). Sweet shrimp. Yari squid. I heard that in the predecessor’s time, there was a whole line of black cars, I hear a lot of stories about that, I’d like to come here to have a good meal, without being overbearing, if possible, I want to be a restaurant that has a sense of excitement. Each appetizer platter is carefully explained one by one. Next is the concluding mackerel. Tuna is next. It is cherry salmon. Seared pike. It is medium fatty tuna. I’m serving a variant of sushi as the final sushi without the maki, I serve sushi with tempura using Toyama’s firefly squid, which is in season now. Two guests come to the restaurant. The kitchen also starts making appetizers. Explains carefully about the food. Listens to the customer’s request and immediately starts cooking. Sake-tora” is a dish of bonito entrails, made into a salted fish. （It’s not salted, It is served in a way that it is to be served with the salty taste of the sake thief. Grilled barracuda with sake-thief. Listening to customers’ needs and serving their food. Aji. We choose a plate to go with the dish. The grand landlady’s pride and joy.It is made by Isokichi Asakura, grandson of Hachikichi Tokuda, a living national treasure. Steamed to lock in the aroma and moisture, then baked a little savory at the end. Manganji peppercorns, a Kyoto vegetable. Tempura conger eel. Serve on top of vinegared rice. Lime. Anago tempura sushi. After lunch business ends, private rooms upstairs are prepared for night business. Kaisen-don (seafood bowl) is made at the end of the day. Everyone came from various places, I would like to talk about something like the culture of Komatsu from the point of view of the landlady, I want to talk about Komatsu’s culture from the point of view of the proprietress, and I also want to talk about delicious food as a chef, I have a lot of thoughts, And as a result, the hand becomes slower, (How did you feel when the landlady decided to take over the restaurant?)
I was supremely happy. Usually, they would say, “Your husband has passed away, so I’m going home with the kids, I don’t know what to say, He said he would take over with me, It’s the best. That girl is really my life. Which is good for the needs of the times. It’s not the same in our time as it is today. I thought it was better to do things the way he thought they should be done, and I thought it was better to do things the way he thought they should be done, I knew that he would definitely do it, so I am relieved. I am very happy to hear that you enjoyed the food and that you had a good time, And I also aim to be able to say, “It’s delicious, I hope to do that. Today, snapper and bai clam, Tuna, medium fatty tuna, Spanish mackerel, horse mackerel, red squid Sweet shrimp, and some pounded chutoro (medium fatty tuna) are also included. Thank you very much to Kappo Sushi Yonehachi!

お店情報
割烹鮨米八

営業時間
11:30 – 14:00
17:30 – 21:00
定休日　　月曜日

TEL 0761-24-1717
住所　　　石川県小松市松任町５８
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