Cool Japanese Techniques

Matsu is me getting more back to my roots in cooking and going back to my favorite kind of cuisine, which is Japanese, and getting into the traditional flavors and techniques of Japanese food beyond what the American palate knows and really kind of paying homage to old techniques, old flavors, and old styles with touches of Japanese home cooking and a lot more of the Japanese cuisine that you don't see in most American restaurants. I feel the biggest part of Japanese cuisine and cooking is utilizing the ingredients that are around you, which really kind of helps with using the local ingredients that are around me here in San Diego. We can use a lot of the local fish, which does really well with Japanese techniques and preparations. We have a lot of great proteins grown in California that lend themselves really well with the techniques and flavors that we'll be using. My plating style is very natural, more on the side of how things look in nature. I like to plate with a lot of simplicity. This menu is us scratching the surface into what we will evolve into as we grow and as we learn more about Japanese food and cuisine and culture. We started off with some really more familiar flavors and techniques to introduce people into our style and our flavors, and as we kind of dive into it, we'll be expanding more, learning more, and showcasing more Japanese techniques and more of the lesser known flavors.