— Restaurant / Process

Before thePlate.

The angle of a blade before it meets the meat. The second a cut is judged clean enough. Salt measured by feel, not a spoon.

This is the part of food I keep returning to: what happens before the plate. The repetition, instinct, and decisions behind a dish that disappear by the time it reaches the table.

I photograph the finished plate. But I’m just as interested in everything it took to get there.

Wagyu skewers over an open teppan, smoke rising in a Tokyo kitchen
A chef's gloved hand seasoning the wagyu with a large wooden pepper mill
Tongs and spatula working the wagyu mid-sear on the griddle
The seared wagyu skewers, golden and steaming, lined up on the teppan
Close detail of the finished wagyu, plated with wasabi, salt and sauce