Honest cooking that respects its ingredients testifies to Shotaro Noguchi’s reverence for the food of Japan. Examples include peony-shaped pike conger sprinkled with kudzu starch and served in soup, and white tilefish seasoned with sake and steamed. To wrap up, two types of rice in earthenware pots are served, one containing freshly cooked white rice and the other a seasonal takikomi gohan – rice with a variety of ingredients. These final dishes bring the seasonal aromas of Gumma, the native prefecture of Shotaro’s wife.