Delicooks

Taka arrived in Barcelona in 1998, hoping to learn about Mediterranean cooking and bring it back home to Japan, where he planned on opening a restaurant. But as usual, things didn’t quite go according to plan. And now he’s welcoming us to his brand new Japanese restaurant in Barcelona.

We’re sitting at a table with Taka at La Cuina de l'Uribou, next to the window overlooking the street. It's 11 am and they’re busy readying the room for the noon service. "When I first arrived in Barcelona my first job was in the restaurant Yashima, where I spent three years. But my plan was to discover Mediterranean cuisine, so I spent every Sunday doing internships in Western restaurants." Taka thus spent time at best restaurants for Mediterranean food: the Talaia Mar, Can Ravell, Jordi Vilà’s Alkimia ...He then returned to Asian food at Icho and Tempura Ya. "I've learned from all the places where I’ve worked, but I learned most with Manel Jiménez (Can Ravell) through the traditional Catalan cuisine that he develops, and Jordi Vilà (Alkimia), since he is owner and chef of his own business, as I am now, and that’s very different from working for others. I was greatly influenced by his philosophy. "

Less than a year ago he opened La Cuina de l'Uribou, forgetting all his plans to return to Japan and open a restaurant serving up Mediterranean cuisine. What happened?

"Well, my wife Yashika and I met here and we decided to stay. And we thought that a quality Asian restaurant in Barcelona was more likely to succeed than a Mediterranean one over there. In Japan there is a lot of competition and it is very stressful. And I’d always had in the back of my mind the idea of opening my own place before I was 40. And I was fast getting there! ".

At La Cuina de l'Uribou Japan is not specifically mentioned. "We are not strait-jacketed. I am inspired by other Asian cuisine and I use my knowledge of Western cuisine and products around here too. We moved away from the typical Japanese restaurant that serves the same dishes all the time, though of course we also serve sushi." 

His wife Yoshiko comes over and joins the conversation: "Japanese cuisine has long been influenced by the outside world. In some cases since more than 1,000 years ago, in other cases going back 300 years... The Portuguese brought tempura and the British brought curry via India" These products and dishes are also on the menu at Uribou but are always used in a flexible way: "My suppliers are market stalls and Asian food stores in the city. That is, we use local and seasonal produce but in order to make certain dishes we also buy imported produce." Taka visits these stores directly to explore their shelves laden with products from China, Korea, Thailand or Indonesia. “Even we don’t know what half of them are!” laughs Yoshiko.

The name also reflects a fusion: it’s in Catalan and refers to an animal in Japanese, the Uribou. "The uribou is a young boar. We were initially going to call it the Cuina de Taka, but that was too personal. So I used uribou as an alternative way of referring to myself, because the boar is my star sign. And a young boar because this is a young project."

In the short time it’s been open, La Cuina de Uribou has built up a wide and varied clientele.  "We get all sorts in here but there is a very high percentage of Japanese clients, maybe 30%, while other Japanese restaurants tend to draw in a figure closer to 10 %". And that's a good sign. “We’ve got a solid base but we don’t want to get too famous: we are still consolidating the project and this current level of growth is just right."

Taka, Yoshiko and Uribou are a good example of a new breed of Asian restaurants that are popping up all over Barcelona and the rest of the country. Authentic places that are closer to the bistro or tavern and where you won’t fork out a small fortune to try out the classic dishes of Japanese cuisine. And where rules of honesty and common sense apply. As the basis for its cuisine, influences come from far and wide and merge in true Japanese style. Whether it’s lotus or artichoke, Kobe or Galician beef, or whether the sashimi is tuna or sardines, what matters is that behind it all is Taka.