Tsukihi’s wood-fire cuisine conveys Echizen terroir

Energized by the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Fukui and Tsuruga in March 2024, Fukui Prefecture’s tourism scene is bustling. Yet fewer than 3% of the guests at the prefecture’s hotels last year were from overseas, as opposed to 27% in Japan overall, so attracting more overseas visitors is the next challenge going forward. Just at this juncture, the restaurant Tsukihi in Echizen has seen its first bookings from overseas guests, on the heels of its selection as a Japan Times Destination Restaurant.

Opened in February 2025, Tsukihi is attached to the natural winery Six Three Estate, launched in January 2023 just 15 minutes on foot from Echizen-Takefu Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line.

Chef Kyohei Nagaya, who was born in Gifu Prefecture, honed his skills at restaurants in Italy and Japan. Though he had no prior connection to Echizen, he had no hesitation about practicing his craft there.

“I’d always worked in urban areas, but I wanted to have a stronger feeling of each season as I created cuisine,” said Nagaya. “If restaurants in urban areas are places that bring out the character of the chef, you could say that in regional areas the land itself has a distinctive character, and that is what I want to commit myself to.”

Nagaya moved to the area in January 2024. While preparing for the opening of Tsukihi, he studied grape cultivation and winemaking at the winery. He also sought out ingredients from Fukui Prefecture and experienced the area’s food culture directly.

Tsukihi’s course menu, priced at ¥22,000 ($150) for both lunch and dinner, depicts Fukui Prefecture’s culinary culture from Nagaya’s perspective. Served at the start of the meal is spring water infused with the aromas of scorched local rice and grape shoots. The source of the water is snowmelt on Mount Hino, the beautiful mountain visible from the restaurant’s eight counter seats, 12 table seats and private room. Just one sip conveys a strong sense of the region’s characteristic freshness and abundance.

Occupying a former storehouse for a construction company, the restaurant has no gas connection. Firewood is used for boiling water and cooking rice, and baking and grilling are done with far-infrared radiation from glowing embers. Japanese sea bass grilled on skewers arrives at the table with crisp skin and meaty flesh. The course menu incorporates Fukui specialties including kombu seaweed, sea urchin, soba and crab, as well as accompaniments originating in shōjin ryōri Buddhist vegetarian cuisine, which is closely associated with this devoutly Buddhist region. These include wheat gluten (fu) with mustard, which is served with the beet dish “Echizen clay wrap grill.” The cuisine, created by a chef hailing from a different part of Japan but yet expressing the Fukui terroir, is sure to be a source of great inspiration and excitement for the area.

■Sustainable Japan Magazine (Sustainable Japan by The Japan Times)
https://sustainable.japantimes.com/magazine/vol54/54-04