1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,960 Hello everyone, I'm Potoraku Fudotaku. 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,760 And welcome, this is my friend, Filipporo-san. 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,080 Welcome, thank you. 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,240 Good morning, friend-san. 5 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:20,680 Okay, I think they'll never allow me to go back to that place. 6 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,680 To that country, after this intro. 7 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:25,160 How are you, man? 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:26,320 Good, man. 9 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:27,480 Good, good, good, good. 10 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:28,520 Welcome back. 11 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,320 I returned from, after 25 days in Japan. 12 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:36,960 So, it was for sure the trip of my life, no questions. 13 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:38,120 It was incredible, man. 14 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:39,920 Was it everything you expected it to be? 15 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,200 I mean, yes, I could say so. 16 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,840 There were some things that I really wanted to do. 17 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:51,240 Like, for example, going to a super nice sushi omakase. 18 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,080 So, I had the opportunity to go to two different ones. 19 00:00:54,080 --> 00:01:00,000 And I really got, you know, on the sushi episode when I was talking about the seasoning, 20 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:01,400 and I said, what's the name of this dressing? 21 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:02,720 And you were like, dude. 22 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:07,200 You know, like, you were like super offended of me calling it a dressing. 23 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,600 And I really got, like, why you were feeling like that. 24 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,840 Like, you go to like a real omakase place. 25 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,000 I would describe it as a religious experience. 26 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,240 Like, it has this whole ritualistic thing around it. 27 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,520 Everybody is super quiet and respectful. 28 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:30,160 Just by coincidence, I happened to go to both experiences with Karen. 29 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:35,480 You know, like, the first one, it was the only one that I managed to book because also 30 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,160 something that I learned from this trip. 31 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,720 And if you're planning to go to Japan in March, I don't know if you know this because I know 32 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:45,160 you were a broadcast student when you were there the last time. 33 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:50,400 But you should start making bookings right now, like three months advance. 34 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,920 That's like the timing for the really good places. 35 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,680 You need like that kind of buffer timing. 36 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:03,720 So I just managed to find one sushi place that I was like, okay, like it was easy to 37 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,160 book through the normal online platforms. 38 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:11,960 And when I arrived there, which was, by the way, difficult to find, I got lost. 39 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,600 Fortunately enough, I had enough. 40 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:16,400 I wanted to arrive early. 41 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:22,280 So at the end, I ended up running in the middle of Shibuya, like, oh, I'm going to be late. 42 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,720 You know, like, and it was this normal apartment. 43 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:26,080 I went to a fourth floor. 44 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,760 I opened the door, I sit down and then suddenly, hey, Eric, you know this place too? 45 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:30,760 Really? 46 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:31,760 Really? 47 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:32,760 Like that. 48 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,600 And he had brought me like through Instagram, he brought me because we were having lunch 49 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,200 the next day, also in a sushi place. 50 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,920 And he brought me, okay, see you soon. 51 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:42,480 Five minutes later. 52 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:47,200 And going with Kevin was really, he knows so much about, first of all, the language. 53 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:53,080 He understands everything, or at least enough of what the chef is explaining, but also about 54 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:58,720 the fishes, the different ways that they're processed and everything. 55 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:00,560 And he was explaining me everything. 56 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:05,840 So that was like a real plus being with Kevin in both places. 57 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:12,440 Being with Kevin, that's just excellent company, you know, especially in this sort of setting. 58 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:16,360 Because the first one, they spoke English, they were explaining the dishes in English 59 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,440 and everything, which is relatively uncommon. 60 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,200 The second one, no English at all. 61 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:29,000 And so in the middle of the experience, the chef would stop and he would start talking. 62 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:33,800 And then Kevin would say, oh, he's asking if somebody wants like an extra nigiri of 63 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,220 the ones we already had and blah, blah, blah. 64 00:03:36,220 --> 00:03:40,560 And then somebody came and he ordered, you know, like, I was like, dude, I'll have what 65 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:47,680 you have, like, don't let me complicate things, you know, like, I'll be fine. 66 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,560 And yeah, that was one of the highlights for, of course, going to both of these places. 67 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:57,280 And the second one was like, well, the first one was one specialized on the aged fish. 68 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:04,160 So the guy would, every nigiri, he would say the aging of each piece, like this is tuna, 69 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:05,240 14 days. 70 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:06,720 This is da, da, da, seven days. 71 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:08,800 This is blah, blah, blah, three days. 72 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:09,800 Everything was aged. 73 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:15,600 And then the third one was a disable of sugita-san, which is one of the top sushi chefs in Japan. 74 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,280 For me that was the best sushi I've ever had and the best sushi experience I've ever had. 75 00:04:19,280 --> 00:04:25,320 But it's funny because both talking with Kevin and also with Santiago from Mas, Santiago 76 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:29,600 Fernandez, who is now a two mission star chef in Tokyo. 77 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:36,520 I was chatting with him and both told me like, okay, this is from the mid level, is one of 78 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,440 the best, but this is still mid level. 79 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,680 There is a level above that, which is top level. 80 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,160 And there is a difference between both things. 81 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:49,840 You know, like for me it was also okay to, you know, to have mid level. 82 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:54,340 Maybe next time I go to Japan, I managed to get to maybe Saito or Sugita and all those 83 00:04:54,340 --> 00:04:57,080 places are insanely difficult to book. 84 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,440 You have to book like one year in advance, something like that. 85 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,760 Yeah, Saito, no Saito, you can't actually book anymore. 86 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:04,960 You used to be able to book like a year in advance. 87 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:06,640 Now it's by invitation only. 88 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,680 Yeah, like these places are really difficult to get. 89 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,160 Like, but if you know someone that knows someone, you know, there's always a way. 90 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:20,080 But I mean, I'll try to get, at least try, you know, like to go one of the top names 91 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:21,080 next time I go. 92 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:27,600 I also got like a super nice recommendation list from Noma, since we went to Noma to interview 93 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:31,320 Christina, Christina Mejia from Noma Project. 94 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,440 And she gave us a recommendation list they have. 95 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:40,600 And there were some other sushi places that are not Saito or Sugita, but are also like, 96 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:45,280 like top places that are not as insanely impossible to get. 97 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:48,680 Because there it says Sugita, incredibly difficult to book. 98 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,000 Saito, incredibly difficult to book. 99 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,760 That's really funny. 100 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:56,240 And yeah, what else? 101 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:04,120 Like we did, I mean, I did like formally three cities, maybe four. 102 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,520 But apart from that, like three extra cities, like one day trips. 103 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:12,320 So a total of like seven, eight cities. 104 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,320 You're also planning to go, you plan to do Tokyo and Kyoto, right? 105 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:17,320 Yes. 106 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,120 So I'm also finalizing planning to go. 107 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,360 I'm like about to book flights and I'm going to go end of March. 108 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:26,360 Okay. 109 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:30,280 Hopefully catching a little bit of the cherry blossom season. 110 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:33,840 And yeah, my plan is, my plan is to go with my mother. 111 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:34,840 Okay. 112 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:39,880 I'm doing a mother son trip because we were talking about it and she always wanted to 113 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,200 go, but she would never ever go by herself. 114 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:43,200 Right? 115 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,680 So last time I saw her, I was like, you know what, let's just go together. 116 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:47,680 Like fuck it. 117 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:48,680 Let's just go. 118 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:53,280 And we're planning to go to Tokyo, of course, because arriving and leaving from Tokyo is 119 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:54,600 the most convenient. 120 00:06:54,600 --> 00:07:02,280 But then definitely going to Kyoto for the most time, maybe a little bit of Osaka. 121 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:08,560 And she actually asked me yesterday, she was like, Hey, I really want to go to the countryside. 122 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:10,960 So which is a little bit more difficult to plan. 123 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:15,520 And I'm not quite like, if like, even though I'm, you know, it's been a very long time 124 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:20,280 since I lived in Japan, but like I can go to Tokyo and I can fill two, three weeks with 125 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:21,280 stuff to do easy. 126 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:28,040 You know, a lot of, a lot of restaurants, a lot of activities, Kyoto the same, right? 127 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:32,000 But like planning a trip to the countryside, I'll have to research it a little bit better. 128 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,520 And, and try to get into it a little bit more. 129 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,480 A lot of people say it's like two different experiences, right? 130 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,440 I mean, like, first of all, going to Tokyo and going to Kyoto is two different experiences. 131 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,040 It's Tokyo, it's just, it's its own thing. 132 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:46,040 Completely different experience. 133 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:47,040 Absolutely. 134 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,640 Like, yeah, like Tokyo is like a metropolis, you know, you could compare it to Paris or 135 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:52,640 New York. 136 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,120 That's why also even you and some other people told me, because I was with this mentality 137 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:02,120 of I want to have only ultra Japanese food from Japan. 138 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:06,320 And they told me if you, if that's your mentality in Tokyo, you're not going to have like the 139 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,520 full Tokyo experience because you're going to have the best pizza in the world. 140 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,720 You can have the best French restaurants in the world, like the best Chinese restaurants 141 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:14,720 in the world are in Tokyo. 142 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:18,800 So like that's something you should also experience while in the city. 143 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,400 And so I did, I took the advice, also the best croissants, like, you know, like it's, 144 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:28,360 it really was exploring all these cuisines with the Tokyo infused, you know, because 145 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,760 it's not, it's not an Italian pizza. 146 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:32,800 It's a Tokyo pizza, you know? 147 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:33,800 For sure. 148 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:34,800 Absolutely. 149 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:39,920 While Kyoto is super traditional, I would say Kyoto super worth visiting museums to 150 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:44,880 watch like all Japanese art, pottery shops all over the place. 151 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:46,680 I would say it's also the most touristic. 152 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:52,360 And if you're going and doing cherry blossom, I mean, like I was so happy and so thankful 153 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,160 that some of the days that I was traveling, it was really low season. 154 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,880 I would go to this super touristy places and they were empty. 155 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,400 And I was like, wow, I'm so lucky. 156 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:07,600 And also like the summer was really delayed probably due to global warming. 157 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,920 So the, instead of, I was expecting a winter. 158 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:16,360 It was still autumn with the beautiful yellow and orange leaves of the maple, Japanese maple 159 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:17,360 trees. 160 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,320 So I went to Harashiyama, this forest in Kyoto. 161 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,680 I really recommend you to go there to visit. 162 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:31,000 There are like three things, like one temple, one garden that used to be the garden of a 163 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,840 movie star, but it's beautiful. 164 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,160 And also this mirror museum. 165 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:39,720 I recommend you to visit those three things. 166 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,280 And also what we did, we booked in the temple. 167 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,600 They have this Buddhist vegetarian restaurant that is in the Michelin guide and it costs 168 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:49,960 like 40 years, like lunch. 169 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:51,920 And it's like a long menu. 170 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:56,000 One of the highlights, like doing the whole thing that day, like going really early to 171 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:01,880 the forest, the bamboo forest, the tree gardens, the temple, and having lunch there, super 172 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:02,880 nice. 173 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,960 And also visiting that there's also a museum just next to that forest. 174 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:10,600 That was my favorite museum with super old Japanese ink drawings. 175 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:11,600 Beautiful. 176 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:12,600 Amazing. 177 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:13,600 Yeah. 178 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:17,400 That's exactly the sort of stuff that's, yeah, just kind of like delving in and just kind 179 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:22,720 of like bathing in like the surroundings, you know, you're just kind of like putting 180 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:27,240 yourself in, you're floating along and you're just really soaking it in. 181 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,840 It was the same when I was, I had a similar experience like when I was in Hong Kong and 182 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,720 Hong Kong is like super, super bustling, right? 183 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,480 Hong Kong is a very cool city. 184 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:40,400 There's a monastery on a neighboring island called Lantau. 185 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:43,480 It was a similar experience because it's like quite touristic. 186 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,740 It's a Buddhist monastery. 187 00:10:45,740 --> 00:10:49,800 It's very cool because either you hike up the mountain of this island or you take like 188 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:51,280 a cable car. 189 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,640 And of course it's like, there's like, you know, shops and stuff like that to finance 190 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:55,640 the monastery. 191 00:10:55,640 --> 00:11:00,320 But when I arrived there, first of all, it was like really cool scenery. 192 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:06,400 They have this massive huge Buddha statue on the top of the mountain that like people 193 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:11,000 like make a pilgrim sort of like up to, you know, but when I arrived, they were about 194 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:16,080 to close the monastery for visitors and you walk inside into the courtyard and there's 195 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:23,160 these like big basins of ash with these huge incense burners, these huge incense sticks. 196 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:27,080 And you walk inside and you're not allowed to film in there. 197 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:31,120 And there was a door like a little bit open to like one of the inside chambers where you 198 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:36,320 could see all the like ceilings like with gold paintings. 199 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,600 And the monks were in there having evening prayer. 200 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:44,040 So they were just like walking in a circle chanting the prayer. 201 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,440 And man, it was so magical, like so, so, so magical. 202 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:53,880 I actually, to my shame, I sneaked a little video just like off the corner. 203 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:58,360 And sometimes I still watch it because it's sort of like you can see the like carved dragon 204 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:03,160 of the like of the roof, you know, like underneath the roof painted with like the mountains in 205 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:04,160 the background. 206 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:05,720 You can hear this like quiet prayer chant. 207 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:06,720 It was so beautiful. 208 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,640 It was like exactly, it just reminded me of that when you say, because you just like go 209 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,000 somewhere and you like dissolve into the experience. 210 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:15,000 Yeah, yeah. 211 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,440 Like I had a few day trips. 212 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:22,720 For example, I went to this lake that is near Mount Fuji. 213 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:28,320 You know, like I can't think of a mountain more iconic than Mount Fuji, like at least 214 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,200 visually because you can't say Everest, okay, whatever. 215 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:36,640 But visually, it's not like, like it doesn't have like a specific iconic image, you know? 216 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:37,640 Excuse me. 217 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:38,640 What about the Matterhorn? 218 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:39,640 Never heard of it. 219 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:40,640 Okay. 220 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:41,640 Okay. 221 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:42,640 What is it? 222 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:43,640 The Canary Islands. 223 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:44,640 The Matterhorn? 224 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:45,640 I know more Mount Teide. 225 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:46,640 Maybe that one. 226 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:47,640 Mount Teide, yes. 227 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:48,640 Also, yeah. 228 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:49,640 It's the Fuji of Europe. 229 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:54,640 Anyways, like I saw Mount Fuji already like a couple of times in the Shinkansen in the 230 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,640 bullet train and I was like, wow, like this is so impactful. 231 00:12:57,640 --> 00:12:58,640 Like I want to go near. 232 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:03,640 And so I took like a day trip to Mount Fuji and I was like, wow, like I want to go near. 233 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:08,640 And so I took like a day trip from Tokyo to a lake. 234 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:13,360 And that was also like countryside, you know, like walking in the, there wasn't enough. 235 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:21,040 I also went to Ashinto-ist temple that has this insanely huge trees, like, and there 236 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:26,320 was like this coat of the trees that there were, two of them were married and, you know, 237 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,120 like bound with a lace and whatever. 238 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:35,880 And so that was also really going into a forest, taking a walk on the countryside, having like 239 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:41,680 this traditional food from the countryside, hoto, which was like a noodle soup from there. 240 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:46,200 So it's relatively easy to have like these day trips, also from Kyoto. 241 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:52,460 You can go to Nara, which is a day trip and you're near the deers and this kind of things. 242 00:13:52,460 --> 00:13:54,460 Also from Nagoya. 243 00:13:54,460 --> 00:14:01,240 And that was also one of the highlights, like our friend Yuwa Oki from Matcha Magazine organized 244 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:08,080 us a tour, a fermentation tour in the Chita Peninsula. 245 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:16,400 So we visited breweries of soy sauce, miso, mirin and sake to a traditional Japanese restaurant 246 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,320 there in the countryside, beautiful. 247 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:26,080 And for example, for me being in this soy sauce brewery, they were doing something I 248 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,680 was really curious about all my life because I've never seen it. 249 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:33,320 White soy sauce, white tamari, right? 250 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:38,520 Which is actually, it's not correct to call it soy sauce because it's mostly wheat. 251 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:40,000 That's why it's not so dark. 252 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:41,560 Incredibly delicious. 253 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:46,920 It's kind of like a soy sauce, but you find the hints of this kind of like nice sourdough 254 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:52,040 bread thing in the flavor and the aromas. 255 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,360 So we had that for lunch. 256 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:59,360 We had a sashimi and I see this light soy sauce I put and I was like, wow, for me that 257 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,520 was one of the bites of the trip. 258 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,200 Like, wow, incredible. 259 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:08,040 And just after that, we go to the brewery where they're actually making it and they 260 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:14,740 allowed us to try like the first, like in a cider house here in the box country, they 261 00:15:14,740 --> 00:15:21,040 opened the fucking barrel of the soy sauce and the first thing that came out, we tried 262 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:22,040 that. 263 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:23,040 It was incredible, man. 264 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,720 Did you shout, Josh? 265 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:27,720 I wanted to. 266 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:33,520 No, no, when they did that, I was traveling with Bernie, this Canadian friend, and she 267 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,280 was like, oh no, we're not worthy to get this. 268 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,520 It was so over the top. 269 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:46,560 And then I asked my cousin, Walter-san, in Ibiza, like, hey, do you know about this sauce? 270 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,520 And she was like, yeah, I have it. 271 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:50,520 Nice. 272 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,560 Of course he does. 273 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:55,920 So that fermentation tour was beautiful. 274 00:15:55,920 --> 00:16:01,600 Like also going to this super small sake breweries, to the oldest medium brewery in 275 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:05,000 Japan, also to a dark miso brewery. 276 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:11,400 So there's a castle in Nagoya that was like a whole day in a van traveling around. 277 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:12,400 Amazing. 278 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:18,720 Did you, I'm curious, you talked about your sushi experience, because I know when I was 279 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:22,280 in Japan, I also, I was like, okay, sushi for sure. 280 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,960 And that's why I also know exactly what you mean when you say this like, oh, this like 281 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,680 high mid range sushi, you know? 282 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:34,040 Yeah, because like at this level, I would say a low level is like a normal restaurant, 283 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:35,800 like everybody knows it's a restaurant. 284 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:37,600 But it's already like very good. 285 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:38,600 Yeah. 286 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,920 But at mid level is something else. 287 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,800 You know, it's really like, really like the chef is like a master of ceremony. 288 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,480 It has like this priesty kind of quality to it. 289 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:57,760 Like when he walks into the bar, you know, you know, it has like a strong presence. 290 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:02,520 And he will start like giving these negiris one by one in order. 291 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:08,520 And everything is so ritualistic, so ceremonial, you know, like for example, in the first one 292 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,880 where this sushi chef talking in English and everything, I was shooting and everything 293 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:12,880 was okay. 294 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,320 The second one, Kevin told me like, don't shoot here. 295 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,640 So I did anyway, but really sneaky, right? 296 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,280 Like no, not with my camera and from like, hey, look, but I wanted to get some shots 297 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:23,280 of that place. 298 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:28,640 But I realized that every time, for example, when Michelle went to Japan, I saw he posted 299 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:32,840 like a short video in a place like this, like in a top sushi place. 300 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:33,840 And it was really sneaky. 301 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,720 You know, it was not like he, you would, you would feel that he was not putting the camera 302 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,000 like, like a tourist, you know. 303 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:41,000 Yeah, yeah. 304 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:42,000 A hundred percent. 305 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:47,320 There's a, there's a, like a big no, no phone, no film policy in a lot of places. 306 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:48,320 Yeah. 307 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:49,320 Yeah. 308 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:54,040 But what I'm curious about is like, did you have any other food related experiences where 309 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:55,880 you had a little bit like your mind blown? 310 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:00,840 Like for example, for me it was, I had two very distinctive ones is when I went to a 311 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,520 yakitori place and I was like, what the fuck? 312 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:04,520 Like I did not know. 313 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:05,520 I was like, oh yeah, cool. 314 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,000 Let's go eat yakitori a little bit. 315 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:08,400 Chicken, chicken on the stick. 316 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:09,400 Yeah, cool. 317 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:10,400 Easy. 318 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:12,240 And then I went to an actual one and I was like, what the fuck? 319 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,760 And I had it with tempura also. 320 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:18,040 Right before I left, I was like, okay, tempura is tasty. 321 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:22,480 And then I went to a real tempura place and I was like, holy shit. 322 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:27,640 I went to a super good yakitori place in Osaka. 323 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,800 You know, they also have this quality of you would say like, you know, this guy is the 324 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,800 grill master. 325 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:39,160 And, and it reminds me a lot of a DJ, you know, like fine tuning all the time, like 326 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:44,760 tweaking a little bit, you know, everything he's, he was like, his eyes are all the time 327 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:51,240 on the grill and he's just tweaking, adjusting, equalizing with a seat, cutting, cutting out 328 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:55,880 if there's a piece that is to burn, you know, just making everything perfect. 329 00:18:55,880 --> 00:19:00,800 And then you get this grill, like also what I love it that they do like nose to tail and 330 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,760 they start telling you, okay, this is the neck of the chicken. 331 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:04,760 These are the gizzards. 332 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:05,760 This is the butt. 333 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:07,520 This is the butt. 334 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:12,720 And everything is just grilled to perfection, you know, like maybe a little bit raw and 335 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,400 then just in the very core, you know, like. 336 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:16,400 No, absolutely. 337 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:21,840 And for me, like what I noticed is that everything was piping hot, right? 338 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:27,160 And so my time in Japan really made me like realize how important temperature is in food 339 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,200 with like broths, you know, like dashi, et cetera. 340 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,680 You know, you go to really good ramen restaurants and the broth is piping, piping hot because 341 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:38,240 it's different sipping a soup that's piping hot and you can almost not drink it. 342 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:40,120 And you kind of ease up to it. 343 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:43,560 You drink a little bit and say, Oh God, you feel it in your whole body. 344 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:45,960 You keep drinking, eat the noodles. 345 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:47,520 It was the same with yakitori. 346 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:52,720 Like it was like something straight from the grill, not somebody took it from the grill, 347 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,800 take like took it off, put it on a cutting board, cut it, put it on a plate. 348 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,120 The waiter takes two minutes to get there and then you get it. 349 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:00,120 It's still hot. 350 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:01,120 That's not the same, right? 351 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:05,480 It's like full of full of life, full of energy, full of momentum. 352 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:06,800 Yeah, absolutely. 353 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,960 No, no, there were way too many things that impressed me. 354 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:17,360 But also like a super crazy experience we booked, which by the way is a new micro genre 355 00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:24,200 of Japanese cuisine that I didn't knew, kushikatsu, which is original from Osaka, which are those. 356 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:31,520 I would describe them like nuggets on a stick of different things, like fried pan fried 357 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:36,720 things and then you have like this stick that, and it could be whatever, could be vegetables, 358 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,240 meats, fish, whatever. 359 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:44,000 So we booked at this place called Oshiyage 010 in Osaka, which was amazing. 360 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:49,240 So the thing about Osaka is that you have all these buildings that they feel like malls, 361 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:54,840 you know, like or buildings that have like, I don't know, six stores and in each store 362 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,800 there are like two top restaurants or bars. 363 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:00,440 So like, and it's a whole street full of that. 364 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,400 So you have hundreds of restaurants in a street. 365 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,120 It's super overwhelming and many of these are top places. 366 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:10,760 So we were there, we had some waiting time, like half an hour. 367 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:15,480 Oh, let's just do a cocktail, like whatever it's near. 368 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,840 So I looked up on something. 369 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:23,960 Also something they taught me is that don't take Google reviews as serious as in the West. 370 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:28,040 So you could find places that have 2.5 on Google and are amazing places. 371 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:31,520 So it's not like in the West that would never be the case. 372 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:34,720 If it's 2.5, it's going to be shit for sure. 373 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:39,360 So but this place had like 4.9, you know, like it was like, you know, like if it has 374 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,480 this kind of, it should be good. 375 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:49,200 We walk into this place, like a super beautiful, very minimalistic decorated bar with this 376 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:54,920 old man that wouldn't speak English, but he would use this translator app where he would 377 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:58,260 talk to the app and the app would talk to us in English. 378 00:21:58,260 --> 00:22:00,160 And I told like, yeah, whatever, whiskey sour. 379 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,080 And he told me, no, no, no, you want to have the special gin tonic. 380 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,520 And I was like, okay, give me the special gin tonic. 381 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:10,160 Then I started shooting and the guy was no, no, no, no videos, only photos. 382 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:11,160 And I was like, okay. 383 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:12,160 So I took some pictures. 384 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:14,600 It was the best gin tonic I've had in my life, dude. 385 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:20,320 Like this guy comes, first of all, like the glass looked like a paper cup, you know, like 386 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:21,320 super clean. 387 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,860 And he says, it's ceramic. 388 00:22:23,860 --> 00:22:25,160 The gin was inside there. 389 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:26,160 Okay. 390 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:31,440 And then he has like another extra glass full of ice and he would take this half limes, 391 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:32,440 right? 392 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:36,680 And he would completely empty and he would put them like on the other way around. 393 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,800 So you have the green peel on the inside, right? 394 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:44,360 So you had like a mini bowl, which was actually like a lime half, right? 395 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:48,340 And he would put that on top of the ice and the second glass. 396 00:22:48,340 --> 00:22:54,680 And he would say, you pour the, from the, this ceramic glass into the bowl and you drink 397 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:55,840 from the lime bowl. 398 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:56,840 Okay. 399 00:22:56,840 --> 00:22:57,840 And then, and then, and you do like that. 400 00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:59,480 And I was like, okay. 401 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:01,840 So I started drinking and incredible. 402 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:08,160 And the guy started bringing out some snacks, like a mini burrata, like a dime sized burrata 403 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:09,720 in soy sauce. 404 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:14,760 Then a piece of ham with some drops of coffee oil. 405 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:21,560 Like I've heard like before, like this combination of coffee oil and coffee and ham, but I never 406 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:22,560 had it before. 407 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,740 And I had it, it was really impressive. 408 00:23:24,740 --> 00:23:28,440 So like there were like this little snack, this little things. 409 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,600 And then he says like, yeah, I have the, this is my boss. 410 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:37,160 And he shows a picture and there's this like super vintage kind of style of chef, like 411 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:38,160 from the seventies. 412 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:45,320 It reminds me a lot of countries and mention, you know, like that kind of vibe, but Japanese. 413 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,840 And yeah, he has two Michelin stars. 414 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:53,760 The name of the place is Kahala, a famous chef from a place called El Buye was there 415 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:55,320 last week. 416 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:56,320 He really liked it. 417 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:57,320 Wow. 418 00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:58,320 Yeah. 419 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,000 And I like, I'm really, I would love to go to that place. 420 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,400 They told me, yeah, but it's three months in advance to book. 421 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:09,360 And I was like, but I found so interesting the snacks they had around here that I was 422 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:12,920 like, oh man, I really need to try that place. 423 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,920 So then it was dude, like around 40 euros per cocktail. 424 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:23,000 I'm so glad we only had one. 425 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,880 I mean, I was like, wow, this is the most expensive drink I've ever paid in my life. 426 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:31,160 But I wasn't like angry or anything because the whole experience, the whole thing, even 427 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,360 though it was just half an hour, I think it was worth it. 428 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:38,680 To be honest, I say, I was really happy about having gone to that place, discovering this 429 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:40,400 chef, you know, this whole thing. 430 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:41,920 I was like, oh wow. 431 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:43,640 And then we went to the squishy cutlery place. 432 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,120 So Shiage 010, one of the highlights. 433 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:52,840 And there I had one of the top bites of the trip, which was a, a dude, a motherfucking 434 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:55,000 onagi burger with blue cheese. 435 00:24:55,000 --> 00:25:00,480 Dude, it was like, Jesus, what the hell? 436 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,440 It was like, oh, what is this? 437 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:04,440 Please. 438 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:05,440 That's insane. 439 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:06,440 Incredible. 440 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:07,440 Wow. 441 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,840 So that wasn't one of the top bites. 442 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:16,400 Another of the top bites was this baby she bring me here at this second sushi place. 443 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,680 Then also I went to Chenken Ichi's restaurant in Tokyo. 444 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:24,520 Unfortunately, he passed away last year, but the restaurant is still open. 445 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:32,680 So one of the top bites there was I have this king crab soup with shark fin. 446 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:33,680 Oh yeah. 447 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:34,680 Shark fin, yeah. 448 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:35,680 Shark fin. 449 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:36,680 Exactly. 450 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:39,720 So I'm like all this texture, this thing. 451 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:44,240 And then on the bottom, I have this kind of like a tofu and I'm like, no, this is strange 452 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:45,240 tofu. 453 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:46,240 Like what is it? 454 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:47,820 Why is this so rich? 455 00:25:47,820 --> 00:25:48,920 And then I look at the menu. 456 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,520 It was for grab pudding. 457 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:59,120 And I remember from Iron Chef, this guy using for graffa, Chinese cuisine, which I think 458 00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:02,000 it's so interesting, you know? 459 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,000 It's really innovative actually. 460 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,000 Yeah. 461 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:09,200 But I mean, at the end of the day, duck, you know, like it's part of Chinese cuisine and 462 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:10,560 this is just part of a duck. 463 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:11,560 No, a hundred percent. 464 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:12,560 Yeah. 465 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,240 But that was also one of the top bites. 466 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,800 And yeah, there were too many, man. 467 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:22,840 I also have like a day trip to Kakagawa, which is it was like a one and a half hour from 468 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,160 Tokyo in Shinkansen. 469 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:30,440 My friend Barry O'Neill organized a visit to the Muto Brothers who have a restaurant 470 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,000 there that specializes only in fugu. 471 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:37,960 So it was like a whole kind of kaiseki menu, fugu in this beautiful place, like with a 472 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:43,360 private room with views to this beautiful garden and a lake. 473 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:50,680 And these guys, the Muto Brothers, they have this podcast in Japanese called Tabemono Radio. 474 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:56,080 These are like really erudites about Japanese food history. 475 00:26:56,080 --> 00:27:00,360 So they unfortunately they don't speak English, but I was able to record everything on audio, 476 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:02,960 so I will have it translated. 477 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:08,840 But he started giving this cathedral about fugu, you know, like they started talking 478 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:15,200 that it started being consumed 10,000 years ago, that samurais weren't allowed to eat 479 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,400 it, like man, like story and story and story about. 480 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:23,520 And then we had like first sashimi, then fried, on nulls to tail, all of the pieces of the 481 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:28,920 fish, like the shirako, which by the way, one of the big revelations on my trip, I never 482 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:30,120 had shirako before. 483 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,840 I don't understand why this is not consumed in the West. 484 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:40,640 Shabu shabu, I mean, all the possible ways you could have fugu, we had it. 485 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,280 You want to explain to listeners what shirako is? 486 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,920 It's like fish male genitalia, right? 487 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,800 Like fish sperm or like, yeah. 488 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:54,840 So and the texture is like very creamy. 489 00:27:54,840 --> 00:28:01,000 Also, one of the top bites was in the first sushi place I went with Kevin. 490 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:06,360 I think aging korobu is the Instagram account because they specialize on aging fish. 491 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:14,120 And it was kind of like a creamy rice risotto like thing with shirako in the middle. 492 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:20,520 And that was like, I had shirako like at least six, seven times and completely different 493 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:21,520 ways. 494 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:27,440 And for me that was also one of the top bites, that creamy rice with shirako. 495 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:49,600 The texture is a thing, it's this creamy thing, like very, very nice.