Seattle offers Kaiseki at its best.
Highly ritualized preparation is how the chef, an artist, imbues the dishes with a personal touch.
This traditional cuisine is an art form.
Every detail matters. One detail is the selection of seasonal ingredients. Another step is choosing components that are at the top of freshness.
Each leaf or morsel of food is selected individually to ensure it can fully contribute to the flavor of the final dish. Nothing is left to chance.
The small portions are chosen for perfection and presented carefully.
Seattle is a perfect place to create Kaiseki because so many fresh ingredients are available
Wa’z is the Seattle restaurant that offers Kaiseki at its traditional best.
They serve a modern yet traditional version of western pacific Kaiseki offerings in a small restaurant in Belltown’s Tilikum Place plaza.
“Kaiseki” is a multi-course Japanese haute cuisine featuring seasonal ingredients cooked in a variety of cooking methods. Wa’z, Seattle
Centuries ago, Kaiseki was a light meal served before a tea ceremony, which is itself a ritualized offering. Over the years this light meal evolved to suit western appetites and more courses were added.
The ceremonial hospitality still exists in the presentation, decor, and presentation of the food.
The dining experience at Wa’z is like traveling to another time in history. It’s a cultural experience to be savored in small bites.
Hiro Tawara is the proud chef/owner of Wa’z. His mission is to bring the traditional ritual back to our hasty lives. Slowing down and taking time to savor the moments allows us to fully experience our lives, instead of rushing through the days.
They offer Chef’s Counter seating, which provides a full view of the kitchen and one on one interaction with Chef Hiro. You are able to see each dish as it is prepared and plated.
He presents each course with a flourish, introducing and explaining it as he goes. As you enjoy the full experience of the Chef’s choice of Kaiseki, you learn a lot of the history behind it. It’s a way to learn more about the depth of Japanese cuisine.
Each plate is a piece of art.
The word Kaiseki translates to ‘bosom-pocket stone’. Fifteenth-century monks would place warmed stones in the pockets of their robes to ward off the cold.
Hiro grew up in Japan and trained at a kaiseki restaurant in Kyoto.
When he moved to Seattle he worked at two of the best restaurants in the city, Sushi Kappo Tamura and Shiro’s, under legendary sushi chef Shiro Kashiba.
That’s where he learned the importance of teaching customers as a part of their dining experience. You can see it in the faces of the eager diners as they are presented with the plate.
Honoring the coming and going of the seasons is an important part of Japanese culture. It’s also a big part of how the Chef chooses his ingredients. Each season brings its own flavors and the menu reflects them as it changes.
Each month, he designs a single set menu around fresh local ingredients.
You might be presented with Grilled local chanterelle mushrooms and Yu-choi green, mixed with ponzu sauce, or a small piece of black cod marinated in miso beneath a grilled green pod of a single fava bean.
There are no spicy sauce and no soy sauces to be found.
‘Enjoy it as-is’, is the owner's subtle way to encourage diners to experience the flavor as it is intended to be tasted.
Kaiseki is one of Japan’s oldest forms of fine dining and Seattle is lucky to have Hiro as a master.
411 Cedar Street, Seattle, WA 206–441–7119 info@wazseattle.com