A chance encounter at a prestigious yakitori restaurant in Osaka leads to an unforgettable dining experience and a heartwarming story of kindness and reciprocity.
In Osaka in 2017, at the end of a trip to Japan, I decided to treat myself at Torisho Ishii, a yakitori joint with a Michelin star. My calls to the restaurant went unanswered so I decided to try my luck in person. Behind its discreet entrance not far from Naniwabashi station, I found an intimate, minimalist space with counter seating for 10, a few small tables and a private dining room. Serendipitously, there was one spot left at the counter.
But for reasons unknown (at least to me), the waiter wouldn’t seat me. I whipped out my phone, hoping Google Translate would help. What came back from the waiter’s Japanese was nonsensical, but the message was clear: there’d be no yakitori for me tonight. I was about to leave when a man at the counter intervened. The chef weighed in, and within 15 minutes I was seated with a menu and a glass of beaujolais. An English-speaking waiter rushed in from another restaurant, on loan especially to wait on me. This was Japanese hospitality, one that puts the comfort of the guest above all else, that I had read about and experienced in ryokan and tea ceremonies. In my head I had concocted a million reasons for being denied a table. Little did I realise it was what followed was an extraordinary beak-to-tail (diaphragm) punchy with wasabi, crispy neck (chicken hotpot), chicken breast sashimi, plus gizzards and a fallopian tube skewered and grilled, served with two golden yolks. My knight in dining armour was a man named Kenji, on an evening out with his hilarious, well-heeled sisters. In faltering English, he recounted how as a tourist on a gap year in the United States he’d had his wallet and ID stolen, and a stranger had come to his rescue. I was his chance to pay it forward. I was touched, not just by the story, but his desire to give back to someone – me – two decades later. Like Kenji, I was trying to navigate a foreign culture and didn’t understand the language
Japanese Cuisine Yakitori Michelin Star Osaka Hospitality Kindness
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