In 2016, the leaders of various countries gathered on Kashishima Island in Ago Bay for a summit. I heard that the food served during the meeting was highly praised, especially the cream soup with spiny lobster. Chef Hiroe Higuchi has been the executive chef at the Shima Kanko Hotel since 2014. The man who appeared in a cook's coat had the dignity of someone in charge of the 60 people working in the hotel's dining room, but when he smiled, he was gentle and warm.

After studying at a cooking school in Osaka with the aim of becoming a French chef, he joined Shima Kanko Hotel in 1991. When he first became a chef, his goal was to open his own restaurant, but under the guidance of the previous executive chef, Chef Tadayuki Takahashi, and the previous chef Hideo Miyazaki, he continued to experience the blessings of the sea and the mountains. Before I knew it, 20 years had passed. ``At a hotel, there's the joy of transcending departmental boundaries and working together to create things that make customers happy.When I receive money, I can say ``Thank you.''It's a happy job.''

``Hotels are places where guests can experience something out of the ordinary, so we will continue to make dishes using spiny lobster, abalone, and Matsusaka beef as our hotel specialties, but I personally feel that the locals eat them casually. I started to want to use other delicious ingredients such as sardines, turban shells, and sea lettuce."

Chef Higuchi also enjoys visiting local producers. “Many people are humbled and say, ``I'm just doing something ordinary,'' but all the ingredients are of high quality.I want to share with many people that such wonderful ingredients are made in Mie. I think it's my role to make the food worth the money I get paid for my work."

Chef Higuchi's cuisine and the delicacies of the sea and mountains of Mie Prefecture, which could only be eaten by going to Kashiwajima, will be available at Hasegawa Eiga Roppongi for a limited time starting from April. Yaegaki Sake Brewery's directly managed store in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture is holding a ``Sake Experience'' where you can taste and compare five types of the highest quality sake brand ``Hasegawa Eiga'' while being served by Japan's top chefs.

I asked Chef Higuchi if it was difficult to think of a marriage between French cuisine and Japanese sake. “Mie Prefecture also has local sake, so for the 2016 G7 Summit, a sommelier with a qualification as a sake taster came up with a pairing list that included Japanese sake.Eiga Hasegawa spoke to us. In fact, local seafood and seaweed are actually easier to pair with sake than with wine. The experience of thinking about cooking was very refreshing."

Of course, the ingredients selected were those from Mie Prefecture. Gas shrimp from Owase, which is difficult to distribute due to its freshness, pork raised with care at an agricultural high school in Iga, scallops of Akoya oysters that remain after the pearls are harvested, white fish that came to Mie Prefecture on the Kuroshio Current, and Shima specialties. Aosa. These are paired with Hasegawa Eiga's sake, which is made from the same rice but has a different flavor, sweetness, and sourness.

The idea of ​​local production for local consumption is a commonality between Chef Higuchi and the Ise-Shima Gastronomy of Shima Kanko Hotel and Eiga Hasegawa. We hope you will spend a wonderful time enjoying the harmonious harmony of the Japanese sake and the fish while thinking about the fishermen and the brewers.

◆Eiga Hasegawa Roppongi “Sake Experience” (reservation required)
7F, 6-20-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Price: 5,500 yen (tax included) (XNUMX person) *Up to XNUMX people per group. Reservations can be made from the official website.

◆Shima Kanko Hotel
731 Shinmei, Agocho, Shima City, Mie Prefecture