Dinner Party: Chef Abe Cooks Staff Meal-Inspired Dishes

My friends at EN Japanese Brasserie are planning a very special dinner party on Saturday, January 16th. The theme: "fish heads, eel bones and beer" -- in other words, food (and drink) inspired by traditional Japanese restaurant staff meal cooking. The host: yours truly. I hope you can join us. Here's the blurb on the event:

In a Japanese restaurant kitchen nothing gets wasted. Cooks make magic even with humble ingredients like fish heads, bones, vegetable peels, and scraps of rich wagyu beef, turning them into delicious, irresistible dishes. But not dishes for the customers -- foods for the cooks themselves. These wondrous restaurant-family meals, called makanai, have inspired EN's Chef Hiroki Abe to cook a lustrous tasting menu of tasty treats rarely found on a Japanese restaurant menu here. Join us on Saturday, January 16th, at 10 pm, to enjoy Chef Abe's creations the way his team does at the end of a busy shift--relaxed, with beer in hand. Dishes include: sake-marinated whole roasted tuna collar, crispy salmon skin salad with aromatic yuzu-citrus dressing, fresh tofu salad, delicate sea bream-head soup, crunchy deep fried eel and fluke bones, braised wagyu beef tips, sashimi ends over vinegared rice, and steaming butajiru, hearty pork and vegetable miso soup. Dinner includes all the beer you can drink, of course. Chef Abe and his cooks wouldn't have it any other way. $45. Please call 212.647.9196 to reserve.

Posted by Harris Salat in New York | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email | Print

Comments (5)

Oh I wish I could hop on a plane and come for this dinner, sounds awesome!

karen stone | Posted 23:45 05 January 2010

If this party had been schedule for last Saturday, I would have been all over it. But alas, I'm back on the West coast now and it's unlikely that I will be returning to NY any time soon. *sigh* Perhaps you'll post some photos of the event so I can live vicariously through you? ;)

In college, I worked at a very traditional Japanese restaurant for a couple summers. I was the only non-Japanese person on staff for most of the time I worked there. Every night after the restaurant closed, the chefs would make dinner for everyone. Sometimes it was a simple stew, other times a multi-course meal, but always delicious. I learned so much about Japanese food, traditions and cultural norms during my time at the restaurant. It was really a great experience.

Dawn (KitchenTravels) | Posted 13:02 08 January 2010

I am falling more and more in love with Japanese Food. One future plan would be to travel around Japan and mount a food reportage from my travel. 2 questions: (1)What are your top picks for best Japanese restaurants and Sushis in Tokyo and around Japan? (2)I love your pictures. With what Digital SLR + lens did you take them? Thanks

S Lloyd | Posted 21:07 08 January 2010

Thanks for your comment, S. Lloyd. Restaurants in Japan... that's a loaded question. Let me give it a think and write a post. As for the camera, first, thanks about my pix. I use a (relatively) old Nikon D80, but with a really outstanding lens, AF-S Nikkor 17-55mm 1:2.8. The lens cost more than the camera, and worth every penny. Have fun in Japan! Harris

Harris Salat | Posted 22:52 08 January 2010

oh man! called too late... it's sold out.. i was so looking fwd to it! love ur blog.... and japanese food too

chubbychinesegirl | Posted 13:46 13 January 2010

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