Counter Culture
Sushi Phenom Mei Kōgo comes to Sushi Yūgen
Part 1: The Collaboration
Even the best-connected globe-trotting gourmets, accustomed to dining wherever they wish, find it impossible to get a reservation at Sushi Meino. The six-seat Tokyo restaurant is the domain of rising superstar chef Mei Kōgo, famous for incorporating French grace notes into the traditional edomae sushi she spent a decade learning, and also for being one of a very few women in top-level sushi’s male-dominated world.
Last month, she made her first visit to Canada, for a two-night collaboration at Sushi Yūgen in Toronto, invited by the restaurant’s owner-manager, Kamen Sun. “I had no knowledge of Toronto at all,” says Kōgo, “so I was intrigued by the opportunity to discover the city. And meeting Kamen, another woman who is thriving in this field, was very inspiring to me.”
Not by coincidence, both restaurants specialize in pairing sushi with wine. Kōgo is a certified sommelier and spent a year in France, working in wineries and honing her appreciation of Burgundy in particular. “I feel a deep history, delicacy and complexity in Burgundy wines,” she explains. “Especially those with a slightly cool nuance.” Sun agrees: “Burgundy’s precision frames Mei’s delicate approach – lighter seasoning and refined balance – without overshadowing the fish.”
Mei Kōgo and Kamen Sun with Japanese bluefin.
Mei Kōgo and Kamen Sun with Japanese bluefin.
The dinners showcased Domaine Pierre Vincent, a Burgundian house that already shines brightly on Shushi Yūgen’s wine list. “By pairing her omakase with these wines,” says Sun, “we introduced Toronto diners to a dialogue between Japanese shun (seasonality) and French terroir that had never been seen here before.”
Fostering discovery is braided into Sushi Meino’s DNA. Chef Kōgo’s apprentices are mostly women (her mother and sister are also part of the restaurant’s team), and she takes her responsibilities as mentor extremely seriously. Overseas trips and visits to domestic producers are included in their training, she says, “and even in our private time, I often take them out to taste wine together – it’s an important part of their education and their lives.”
Listening to Kōgo and Sun, it’s clear that both see their brief collaboration as a detail from a bigger picture – a cultural moment that advertises and advances the progress of women in their high-end culinary genre. As Sun puts it, “this is a story that transcends omakase. It is about impact, possibility and change.”
Part 2: The Meal
The way that thinking and background manifested itself in the collaborative meal at Sushi Yūgen was revelatory – a meal to think about and to savour for a long time.
To begin, accompanied by the mineral and brioche-like notes of Frederic Savart l’Ouverture Premier Cru Blanc de Noirs NV, a fresh and herbaceous spring roll, then exquisite tako, chef Kōgo’s signature, sweet and creamy Botan ebi, lightly battered, crisp-fried gizzard shad, and an ankimo (monkfish liver) of a quality we’d never previously experienced. Onwards, with a Pierre Vincent Bourgogne Aligoté, to a tilefish nigiri. And then, from host chef Kyohei Igarashi, a King Crab croquette with tiger shrimp.
After that, chef Kōgo served more nigiri – sumi-ika (ink squid) and ikura (roe of chum salmon from Hokkaido). Igarashi added vinegared snow crab. And Kōgo answered with more nigiri: chu-toro of Bluefin from the Sea of Japan, gizzard shad, and a divine Ohagi-style sweet sushi with tuna and green onion, paired with a superb Pierre Vincent Chassagne-Montrachet “La Platière” 2023. Igarashi added a “roast beef” nigiri, and Kōgo followed with Hokkaido uni of dazzling freshness and sweetness, then anago, a restorative clam miso, a rice pot and finally, a lesson in tanago (egg).
Chestnut tiramisu.
Medium-fatty tuna (chūtoro)
Roast Beef (Rōsuto Bīfu)
Botan shrimp (Botan ebi)
King crab croquette and tiger shrimp
Chestnut tiramisu.
Medium-fatty tuna (chūtoro)
Roast Beef (Rōsuto Bīfu)
Botan shrimp (Botan ebi)
King crab croquette and tiger shrimp
It was a spectacular collaboration, and we look forward to the next edition in Kamen Sun’s ongoing and highly ambitious series. Watch this space for details.