The other day, my husband and I introduced traditional Japanese kaiseki cuisine to my British friend Martyn and his daughter Anna. Kaiseki originated as a light meal served before the tea ceremony, and it consists of rice, three main meals and a soup. The spirit of “wabi-sabi” (わびさび) is considered very important and emphasizing the appreciation of seasonal, fresh ingredients.

We visited my husband and my favorite restaurant Kitcho. Anna is a vegetarian, but she told us that she was willing to try seafood. If you're vegetarian, it's extremely hard to completely avoid it because Japanese soup-stocks are made from bonito freaks and seaweed.

When we heard that Anna would give it a try, we were happy because we wanted her to experience a part of Japanese culture, especially its food culture. When I visited Martyn in the UK, he took me to a traditional British restaurant as well. Thanks to him, I experienced British food culture, so I wanted to do the same thing to her.

Kaiseki cuisine is served on beautiful dishes and plates, so you can enjoy each meal with both sense of sight and sense of taste. Kitcho especially presents each dish beautifully. Every time a new course was served, both Martyn and Anna were impressed by the artistic presentation and kept saying "Wow", then "Mmm" after every bite.

I believe that Japanese cuisine is a form of art, so I was happy that they felt the way as well.

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