SSSIA

New flavor added to taste of traditional cuisine

Nowadays, you can taste all kinds of Japanese food including sushi, tempura, and ramen in the U.S. It seems like the Japanese food boom has peaked, and almost every type of Japanese food you can think of can be acquired now. On the other hand, however, the number of restaurants where genuinely authentic Japanese cooking - the kind of dishes that you can get at long established Japanese restaurants in Japan – is served, is still very limited.

I did not know about “Kappo Irifune,” which opened in a mall in Torrance, of the Los Angeles suburb in March of 2015 until early autumn of the same year. A few of my gourmet friends sent me the photo of the dishes they had at Irifune through LINE. I hate to say, but as far as I remember, none of the predecessors at that location had successfully kept their business for very long. I got very curious to know how good they really are since those friends of mine are trustworthy in judging the taste of food. I decided to try, and one day, visited Irifune. I ordered fried shrimp lunch combination dish. It was so good, and made me feel like trying other dishes. First of all, the miso soup prepared with solid dashi taste was impressive. The shrimp was light and crunchy, the rice was shiny, and the salad dressing tasted like an original. I felt like I had discovered rare genuine Japanese cooking that you can always rely on.

The current owner of Irifune, Ms. Tomoko Kobayashi told me at a later date that the restaurant was originally opened in last March by Mr. Teruhisa Tani who ran a Japanese food restaurant for 25 years in Kumamoto, Japan, and overall has 40-years of experience in cooking. He immigrated to the U.S. and opened this “Kappo Irifune” in Torrance because his daughter lives here. He faithfully replicated the authentic taste here in the States that he had developed in his 40-year career.

Unfortunately, he had to decide to go back to Japan due to health reasons, and was looking for someone who could succeed his business. Ms. Kobayashi who was a regular customer of Irifune then raised her hand. Ms. Kobayashi who had experience working in various service industries in Japan, came to the U.S., got trained and worked as a sushi chef in a sushi restaurant on Ventura Blvd where many people in the entertainment industry were the customers. After that, she worked as a coordinator in the film industry, and also a consultant for Japanese enterprises who wanted to start a business in the States. After that, she went back to the food and beverage industry as a consultant. When she was a regular customer at Irifune last year, she was working as a manager of a Japanese restaurant in Gardena. She really wanted to keep the taste of Irifune which had become her latest favorite. She learned the secret recipe from Mr. Tani, and kept everything else as well; the restaurant name, menu, and pricing in order to make a new start. Currently, Mr. Tani who will be leaving for Japan soon and a lady chef with over 10-years of experience, Ms. Miho Obara are taking care of the kitchen, and Ms. Kobayashi is taking care of the customers on the floor. Ms. Kobayashi who is also a restaurant consultant, is gathering data and researching on her own to find out what type of dishes are liked by what type of customers, and what type of customers tend to come back often, etc.

She said, “The most popular dish for lunch time is “Irifune Special Zen” with simmered red snapper. We cannot get many snappers with heads, therefore, we can serve only a limited number of 10 to 15. This menu sells out very quickly every day. Its sweet taste seems to be well liked, especially by Chinese customers.”

The “Irifune Special Zen” that includes Sashimi, Aradaki, a small bowl of a seasonal dish, rice, miso soup, salad, and dessert is priced at $12.80. Popular dishes for dinner time are “Sashimi Gozen” and Chirashi Gozen which are both priced at $18.80, which is very reasonable for both the quality and the quantity. Another item called “Omakase Sushi” that includes 12 pieces of sushi, salad, pot steamed egg custard and dessert is only $28.99 which could have been priced easily below cost.

While keeping the traditional Japanese cooking taste from the previous owner, Mr. Tani, Ms. Kobayashi also hold new ideas. She says, “First, I am planning to add yakitori and oden to the menu around next spring. By doing so, customers can enjoy Izakaya style dining as well. In addition, I am going to add Japanese desserts to gain more female customers.”

I believe that “Irifune”, growing with new ideas based on the solid foundation of Japanese cooking, will be surely known more and more in the community as a secret great place to eat in Torrance.

老舗割烹の味に新たな趣向をプラス

アメリカでは今や寿司から天ぷら、ラーメンに至るまでさまざまな日本食が食べられる。食べられないものはないと言ってもいいほどに「日本食全盛期」を迎えている。しかし、日本の老舗割烹料理屋で食べられる本物の日本食と言うと、それが味わえる店はかなり限定されてくる。

ロサンゼルス郊外のトーランスのモールの中にある割烹入船。2015年３月にオープンしたこの店の噂が耳に届いたのは同年の初秋の頃だった。しかも味に煩い複数の友人が、入船で食べた料理を写真付きでLINEで送ってきた。失礼ながら、その店は、記憶にある限り、長くビジネスが続いたことがない場所にある。しかし、信用できる人が「美味しい」と言う以上は好奇心が湧いてきた。そして、ある平日のランチに訪れてみて海老フライ定食を食べてみて思った、「もっと他の料理も試したい」。まずしっかり出汁を取ったみそ汁の味が印象的。さくっと揚がったフライにつやつやと光るご飯。サラダのドレッシングは手作りの味。安心して食べられる日本食に出会った思いだった。

現オーナーの小林智子さんに後日聞いたところによると、同店を昨年３月にもともとのオーナーとして開店したのは、日本の熊本で25年続く割烹料理店を営んでいた谷輝久さん。自らの料理人歴は40年に及ぶ。谷さんは娘さんが暮らすアメリカに移住することを目的に、割烹入船をトーランスに開けた。そして、自身が40年手掛けてきた店での味を忠実に、アメリカで再現した。

しかし、谷さんは健康上の理由で日本に帰国することになった。引き継いでくれる新しいオーナーを探していた時に客として入船に足しげく通っていた小林さんが名乗りをあげた。小林さんは日本でサービス業を経験後に渡米、エンターテインメント業界の関係者に常連が多かったベンチュラ・ブルバード沿いの寿司屋で修行を積み、女性の寿司職人として活躍していた経歴を持つ。その後、映像関係のコーディネート業、日本企業の米国市場進出のコンサルタント業を経験した後、レストランコンサルタントとして飲食業に舞い戻り、昨年入船に客として通っていた当時は、ガーデナの日本食レストランのマネージメントに携わっていた。

そして、自分の新たなお気に入りの店となった入船の味を存続させたいと願った小林さんは、秘伝のレシピを谷さんから習得し、メニューも料金も、そして店名も変えずに新しいスタートを切った。現在は、帰国を控えた谷さんと10年以上の経験を持つ女性寿司職人の小原美穂さんに板場を任せ、小林さんはフロアで顧客のサービスに努めている。どのような料理がどのような層の顧客に好まれるのか、またどのような顧客がリピートしてくれているのか、レストランコンサルタントでもある小林さんは自分の肌でそのデータをつかみ取っているのだ。

「ランチで人気があるのは鯛のあら炊きがメインの入船スペシャル膳です。鯛のお頭の数が多くは仕入れられないので、１日に10食から15食の限定ですが毎日早い時間で売り切れます。特に甘めの味付けがお好みらしく、中国人のお客様がよく注文されます」

ランチの入船スペシャル膳は刺身のあら炊き、季節の小鉢、ライス、味噌汁、デザート、サラダ付きで12ドル80セント、またディナーで人気の刺身御膳やちらし御膳はいずれも18ドル80セントと、本格的な味と品数の多さに対して手頃な料金。また、12貫の握り寿司、サラダ、茶碗蒸し、デザートまで付くお任せ寿司は赤字覚悟の28ドル99セントだ。

小林さんは前オーナーの谷さんによる割烹料理屋の味を引き継ぎつつ、新しいアイデアも温めている。「まず、春頃には焼き鳥とおでんもメニューに加える計画です。そうすることでディナータイムに居酒屋として楽しんでいただけるようになります。さらに女性客の獲得に向けて、本格的な和のデザートも追加します」本格的な日本食をベースにさまざまな新しい趣向も誕生しつつある入船。トーランスの穴場的な食事処として、今後益々その名が認知されていくに違いない。

---

Kappo Irifune
1231 Cabrillo Ave. Ste 107 Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 782-7330
http://www.kappoirifune.com/
Mon.-Sun./ 11:30am-2:30pm 5:30pm-10:00pm 7 days open