Japanese Home Cooking in Santa Fe

I’ve been following Jeffrey Ozawa’s adventures within the meals business ever since my pal (and his older sister) Melissa confirmed me images of the luxurious conventional Japanese dishes he would put together for his or her household gatherings at their childhood New Jersey dwelling. When he and his girlfriend, Jaimie Lewis, moved to LA and began a catering firm that specialised in artfully introduced bento meals, I adopted alongside on Instagram. Once they opened Tenzo, an expertly curated Japanese kitchen and housewares internet retailer, I clicked the observe button once more. And earlier this yr, when the pair moved to Santa Fe and opened Ozu, a pocket-sized restaurant and market on Lena Avenue that serves Japanese dwelling cooking, I took notice and added it to my must-visit record.

Transferring to the desert Southwest to open a standard Japanese eatery could seem a idiot’s errand, however Jeffrey understands that meals has the facility to move. His mom’s household has deep roots within the Philadelphia space; his father is from Osaka. “He created his personal little Japan inside our colonial American home. The kitchen was his refuge. At dinner I watched my dad recreate Japan with a Tupperware of katsuobushi and a bottle of shoyu,” he recollects. “Meals, like books or motion pictures, can take you wherever.”

Now, at Ozu, it’s Jeffrey and Jaimie who’re conjuring outdated Japan with alternative substances, consideration to custom, and a flick of the knife. The area, at simply 400 sq. ft (together with the kitchen), was impressed by the tiny family-run 10-seaters frequent in Japan. Jaimie designed the minimalist-industrial area and constructed most of the components herself. “I constructed the counter, market shelf, and desk tops from sugar pine, which I milled, joined, and completed myself at a group woodshop known as MAKE Santa Fe. I realized all the pieces within the strategy of doing it,” says Jaimie.

The couple plan to open a brick and mortar Tenzo throughout the road from Ozu subsequent yr. “The aim of Ozu and Tenzo now could be to create a bridge between my group in america and my group in Japan,” says Jeffrey. “Japanese meals in america means so many various issues, however I feel one facet that’s underrepresented is dwelling cooking, the outdated Showa period recipes. The outdated timers who carried that custom are retiring, and I really feel the necessity to maintain it going.”

Images by Jaimie Lewis.