Chef Yoshihiro Imai is the chef and visionary behind monk, a 14 seat seasonally inspired restaurant near Ginkakuji, Kyoto, and the author of ‘monk: Light and Shadow on the Philosopher’s Path’. As the title suggests, monk is located on an ancient, tranquil path where philosophers and writers are said to have walked and ruminated about life. Chef Imai’s book weaves the story of the restaurant’s beginnings and guiding philosophies and includes ravishing photographs by Yuka Yanazume of the locally grown seasonal ingredients and inventive, refined dishes that have made monk famous.

Bloomist and Cookery by the Book have joined forces to bring you the work of amazing cooks the world over. As proud sponsors of the CBTB podcast we’ll introduce you to monthly articles and recipes as well as sell the featured books. In our debut episode Suzy interviews Chef Imai. Emmy Reis, Chef Imai’s good friend translates.

Continue reading or listen to the podcast at Cookery By The Book With Suzy Chase

Suzy Chase: I want to kick things off talking about the word "path".

Emmy Reis / Chef Imai: I think the motif of a path is a really big theme for monk, and of course the book in many ways. It's also in the subtitle, Light and Shadow on the Philosopher's Path. The Philosopher's Path is the actual name of the small path where monk is located. It's such a perfect name because it's named after the various philosophers and writers that are said to have walked on this path to ruminate about life, et cetera. The vibe of the path hasn't changed much today. It's still a quiet, tranquil pass along a small canal. It's very calming and meditative to walk this path.

Light and shadow on the Philospher's Path. Ancient stepping stones lead to monk.

Spring. Monk restaurant, along The Philosopher's Path, near Ginkakuji, Kyoto.

Emmy Reis / Chef Imai: I think this image of philosopher walking on a path day after day connects to this idea in Chef Imai's work, where each day is this meditation, repetition, and accumulation of a communion with nature and the ingredients that it provides. It sums up to the larger picture, which is a journey and an exploration.

Emmy Reis / Chef Imai: His daily ritual of traveling up north, out of Kyoto city to the countryside of Ohara, where he gathers his vegetables, herbs, and flowers of the day. It's definitely a practical ritual in the sense that he gets his ingredients, but it's definitely much more than that. It's about feeling the energy and the breath of the natural environment, and then bringing that back with the ingredients and keeping that intact in the dishes that he makes so that it can be shared and felt by the guests as well.

Suzy Chase: I'd love to hear about his search for the perfect spot for monk that's situated on the Philosopher's Path.

Emmy Reis / Chef Imai: Yeah. it took him a long time to find the right place, I think he said almost eight months. He had a really clear vision of a location close to nature and ideally next to a river or stream, running water. He told some real estate companies, but they didn't get his image really, or they just didn't have anything like that. But he also didn't want to settle, so he just kept trying. Finally, one company that got his vision got back to him four months after he brought this up and they told him about this place. It was right at the foot of the mountains, kind of away from the city, next to flowing water, so it was perfect. There was a really special energy. It feels very protected and secluded and closer to nature. But the building itself was super old, so he was a little unsure when he walked in, but something about the vibe just clicked so he went with it.

Chef Imai’s dishes use seasonal ingredients gathered from local farms. Left: Summer. Octopus, red shiso and red onion. Middle: Summer. Ayu and Kamo-nasu eggplant pizza. Right: Autumn

Suzy Chase: Almost all the cooking at monk is done in a wood-fired oven, imported from Italy. That's the heartbeat of the restaurant. First, I'd love for you to describe how the open flame takes to vegetables.

Emmy Reis / Chef Imai: The infrared heat of the oven can gently cook the vegetables in a way that really encapsulates their essence and goodness. He really believes this is the best way to eat vegetables, and especially seasonal vegetables, and capture that umami. The assorted grilled vegetable dish is always part of the omakase course, and it's a major highlight of the meal. It seems really simple, and it is simple, but because of that simplicity, it also involves a lot of craft and skill because the vegetables have to be cut, grilled and salted very precisely so that they really shine. It's also about, I think, the experience of seeing the flames cook the ingredients right before your eyes and the way that connects with something very primal within us.