Japan
Japan has become one of the places that continually reshapes the way I think about food. Between private chef work for clients on ski trips, online recipe development, and time spent exploring the mountains and countryside, each long stay (in all seasons) has offered new perspectives on craftsmanship, seasonality, and hospitality.
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Alongside developing recipes and culinary content for AI training, I've continued my personal practice of keeping handwritten food journals, documenting ingredients, techniques, market discoveries, and memorable meals from each region. These notebooks have become an archive of observations that often find their way into my own menus back home.
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When I'm not in kitchens, I'm usually outside. Ski touring through Myoko, wandering neighborhood Michi-no-ekis (roadside markets), soaking in onsen after long days, or stopping at tiny bakeries and soba shops have become just as important to my understanding of Japanese food culture as time spent behind the stove.
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Every visit leaves me inspired, not to recreate or reinvent Japanese cuisine, but to cook more intentionally, with greater respect for seasonality, simplicity, and a sense of place. I will often bring back ingredients in my suitcase, and stories to share.
Tamales in a pressure cooker.
A personal journal recipe that came of our kominka house in the mountains, necessity and inspiration from sassadango.
AI Ingredient Documentation
Spicy Salmon + Rice, a one pot wonder.
Not everyone gets to experience the koji room at this world famous sake brewery. A must read.
Soba noodles, soba tea, soba everything. I have been obsessed with buckwheat since the beginning of my days, and the Japanese recipes just hit differently, in your heart.
An ongoing love for mountains.
No matter where we go to eat, we always end up in the mountains.