The month of mum

The month of mum

A letter from Chef James Noble

The mornings are darker, and the sun sets through the rain making it little more special as we endure a heavy rainy season and are thankful for what we have this time of year instead of moaning about the washing not drying and the heavier traffic as everyone uses their cars.

At the back of our restaurant, our home, we have a stream, during this period of the year Nancy Noble offers a daily morning river report as she watches the rise and fall of the little tertiary and reports back to me over breakfast what she thinks the rain fall was the past evening and what’s going on up in them their mountains.

We then discuss my up-and-coming days’ work in the kitchen, and she offers up her advice on plating (using crayons) and combinations, which funnily enough always include a daddy burger and scrambled eggs, her two most favorite things right now and the fact the pumpkin gnocchi is spelt incorrectly, and we should be using the G.

God, bless you chicken noble, it’s so good to have you back on form and chipper for the opening .out of the mouths of babes’ great dishes are born and if Nancy isn’t into it we just are not doing it.

Well, it’s 10 days to the 10^th and when we open our doors to you - the team is swelling as we bring on board key players to make this journey complete.

I’m getting twitchy and just a bit excited as we all settle in and the food is becoming very interesting even if im not yet completely happy with the balance, but im never happy as im sure chefs can relate?

Khun Remy is alongside chef Blue (who by the way has the most ferocious haircut and now looks like a shaolin monk)

Remy has a superb background and is a huge asset to our team, she is excellent In Italian and European food and joins us in the cold section - her purple potato and miso gnocchi is outstanding and her version of the “caponata” will be amazing with the agrodolce reducing as I write.

Tommy is on board lashing down and nailing on the final things in the restaurant.

Tommy is studying full time and comes to you in the evenings, fluent in Thai and speaking great English, Tommy is from Burma that has settled in Thailand for over 10 years and is the kindest most helpful person I think I’ve ever met. You can be the judge of that when you meet him, but a true find for Ikigai and we are extremely grateful to welcome him into the fold.

Welcome team - Ikigai and my family have the upmost respect for your skills, and we can’t wait to work with you and learn who you are personally.

This week’s letter is a little shorter as I have some serious pans and pots to rattle so I’m going to give a brief, but in-depth synopsis of what ikigai means and how we take the philosophy forward into our food.

“We all need to eat - all our bodies, in principle, work the same”.

A machine, if you like, runs at our optimum with the fuel (food) we put in.

As you all know by now ikigai isn’t a food style - it’s all about fulfilment - joy and happiness along with balance and simplicity.

The art of happiness if you will, and our kitchen does just that on every plate.

Combine this with the 5 countries that have the highest longevity through lifestyle and diet, and you get

“The home of Ikigai “

Our world - our vision, our interpretation.

Most people assume (we all know what that stands for) that we are a Japanese place to eat.

We are not - we take some Japanese influence, as we do some Greek and Italian amongst others and create balanced plates of food that benefit your body.

By using age old and proven techniques and ingredients, the menu is as interesting as it is beneficial

Let’s dive into a dish

Soused sardines arrabbiata

Pickled boneless sardine fillets served with a pilchard blended spicy arrabbiata sauce - topped with crispy bones, pickled capers, and a black olive powder.

Sounds yummy and tastes delicious - here’s the kicker - it’s actually incredibly healthy too!!!!

Omegas galore - calcium tastic - a little spice to lower the blood pressure and increase the HDL lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, in a dish I hear you ask? The answer is a resounding yes.

Don’t even get me started on the vinegar- ok, go on then! vinegar's,

Vinegar contains polyphenols, plant chemicals that have an antioxidant effect that may protect cells from oxidative stress, which is possibly a stimulator of tumor growth. Cell and mouse studies suggest that vinegar may prevent the growth of cancer cells or cause tumor cells to die

That why we all should eat more pickled items and sot of vinegar with the mother every day .

And then it’s all wrapped up in a tomato sauce —the wonderful gift from Mother Nature- tomatoes

Getting more tomatoes into your diet may make you less likely to have a stroke, which is when blood flow gets cut off to a part of your brain. Studies suggest that they may ease inflammation, boost your immune system, lower your cholesterol levels, and keep your blood from clotting

It eats well and its wellness, allowing more wine or an extra gin or 2?

What we giveth we taketh away.

And that’s just one dish of the 21-item menu

So without blowing smoke or greenwashing I hope you can now see and understand how balanced our food can be without losing the main principle, the principle of flavour.

As an Ikigai chef there’s only 3 things you need to bring to the working day - flavour - flavour – flavour.

The rest we just keep on working out.

Keep it real and simple guys, live your day the ikigai way and feel the benefits.

Theres a competition to actually eat with me... Please enter that, the shops open for all things chefy, and the past knife is going from strength to strength, we can send you the current list of what we have?

Thats me back to the kitchen, Nancy is packing for a month with mum and im messing with food ready for the 10^th 

See you all soon in or around the opening days.