Kyoto Gastronomy is a project that rediscovers local food culture across Kyoto Prefecture, with the aim of creating new culinary tours and raising awareness of them.
On December 21, 2024, the project’s Premium Course Tasting Event was held at Amanohashidate Rikyu Hoshino-Oto.
This article reports on the event.
It also covers the limited-time pasta sauces created for the project, and may be of interest to those curious about the food of Amanohashidate in Kyoto or about Hoshino-Oto, a hot spring inn in the area.
What Is Kyoto Gastronomy?
Gastronomy means considering food and drink from the perspective of a region’s culture and art.
Gastronomy tourism refers to travel that introduces visitors to a food culture shaped by the local climate, ingredients, traditions, and history.
Kyoto Gastronomy is organized by Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, tourism federations, and others, and holds tours and events that share the food cultures of the prefecture.
For Kyoto Gastronomy 2024, the Premium Course Tasting Events held in November and December 2024 brought together chefs of Kyoto cuisine, Italian cuisine, and French cuisine.
One of these events was a one-day gastronomy tour created by Amanohashidate Rikyu Hoshino-Oto, operated by Marinetopia Resort, and Toriyone, a long-established Kyoto cuisine restaurant.
Here is a look at how the event unfolded.
Premium Dining: A Gastronomy Tour by Hoshino-Oto and Toriyone
The chef in white is Mr. Tanaka, the sixth-generation owner of Toriyone, a long-established restaurant near Matsuo Taisha Shrine in Arashiyama, Kyoto. On the right is Mr. Ueda, the head chef of Hoshino-Oto, which serves creative cuisine in Amanohashidate.
The event opened with an introduction to the crab, fish, wagyu beef, local chicken, and fresh vegetables of the Tango region, part of the area known as Kyoto by the Sea.
Meanwhile, preparations continued behind the scenes.
The menu featured Kyoto ingredients such as female snow crab from Taiza, a famous and rare brand of crab, young Pacific bluefin tuna from Maizuru, bigfin reef squid, a Chaliapin steak of Kyoto beef, and tiger pufferfish from Tamba.
Drink pairings included a Bourgogne Pinot Noir with fresh aromas of cherry and strawberry, and Shirakiku Junmai Ginjo Tango no Hikari, a sake from Shirasugi Shuzo made entirely with Koshihikari rice from Tango, Kyoto.
An alcohol-free Vintense Sauvignon Blanc was also available for guests who do not drink alcohol.
Dessert was a baked apple with Kintoki carrot ice cream, which combined the sweetness of the carrot with the acidity of the apple.
The atmosphere remained relaxed throughout, and guests took their time with each dish and drink.
Some guests asked the head chef about the ingredients and dishes directly.
In the kitchen, the chefs also found time to talk about cooking with one another.
The event brought together chefs with a shared passion for Kyoto ingredients in a gastronomy tour that was very well received.
Hoshino-Oto plans to continue taking part in such tours and events to share the food culture of Kyoto.
A Limited-Time Collaboration Product
From January 18, 2025, a limited-time collaboration product was sold as part of the Kyoto Gastronomy “Special Dish” program.
Hoshino-Oto and Toriyone, its partner at the Premium Course Tasting Event, created a set of three pasta sauces.
The set contained only the sauces, so buyers could combine them with their preferred ingredients.
Toriyone and Hoshino-Oto Original Pasta Sauce Set
(Product)
・Clam broth and garlic oil sauce with crab and yuzu
・Smoked chicken and basil sauce
・Crab and tomato cream sauce
(Sales period, now ended)
January 18 to February 16, 2025
(Sold at)
・Maeda Coffee (Salon de 1904) MAP
・Michi-no-Eki Umi-no-Kyoto Miyazu MAP
Product details (Japanese): https://2024.kyoto-gastronomy.com/fair/
Where the Premium Dining Gastronomy Tour Took Place
Amanohashidate Rikyu Hoshino-Oto
This inn serves inventive creative cuisine that makes full use of seafood from the Tango region, without being limited to any single culinary genre.
All seven rooms have an open-air bath with Kin Onsen (golden hot spring) and an indoor bath with Gin Onsen (silver hot spring), so guests can enjoy the hot springs in private.
The on-site restaurant KANON uses fresh seafood landed at a nearby fishing port, wagyu beef, local chicken, Japanese pork, and pesticide-free vegetables from its own farm to create inventive dishes that bring out the flavor of each ingredient.
It is especially suitable for special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.
Those traveling with children can enjoy the same cuisine in a private setting at Auberge Villa SOSO or Auberge Villa KUON.
| Amanohashidate Rikyu Hoshino-Oto Address: 2686 Hioki, Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture Phone: 0772-27-1101 (9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) Email: yoyaku@hoshino-oto.jp Official website: https://en.hoshino-oto.com/ |
Toriyone
Toriyone is a long-established restaurant that has served Kyoto cuisine near Matsuo Taisha Shrine in Arashiyama, Kyoto, for more than 130 years, since 1888.
Its roots lie in a poultry farm. It began as a chicken restaurant and later developed into a Kyoto cuisine restaurant, and its kaiseki meals feature a chicken broth made with a secret recipe and mizutaki chicken hot pot.
In addition to a limited-time winter banquet plan, private courses are prepared to suit each group.
All dinner courses require reservations at least two business days in advance, by phone or through the inquiry form (Japanese).
| Toriyone Address: 66 Arashiyama Asazuki-cho, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto City Phone: 075-872-7711 Hours Lunch: 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Dinner: 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (last order at 9:00 p.m.) *Dinner is available by reservation only, made by the day before. Closed: Wednesdays (open on national holidays) Official website (Japanese): https://www.toriyone.com/ |
Grand Prix Winner at the Kyoto Gastronomy Award 2024
The Premium Dining gastronomy tour was followed by another event.
On February 8, 2025, the Kyoto Gastronomy Award 2024 was held at Daigo-ji Temple in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City. It aimed to choose the best of Kyoto’s lesser-known areas from five regions: Kyoto by the Sea, Kyoto of the Forest, Kyoto of Tea, the Otokuni bamboo area, and a region of hidden sights known as Totteoki no Kyoto.
The judges included members of the public, food columnist Takeshi Kadokami, Seiji Tanaka, chair of the Kyoto Prefecture tourism federation and the Kyoto City Tourism Association, and Naomi Trauden, a Kyoto native who appears widely in the media.
In the competition, each region created a collaborative dish with seasonal local ingredients, and the judges voted on them.
Representing Kyoto by the Sea, Toriyone and Hoshino-Oto won the Grand Prix with fresh yuba wrapped around Taiza snow crab and tilefish.
The dish paired Taiza crab and tilefish with a sauce of macadamia nuts and Toriyone’s tama miso, combining the seafood of Kyoto by the Sea with refined technique.
One judge praised it by saying, “In winter, Kyoto by the Sea has an unfair advantage. Crab and tilefish are bound to taste good, but this menu could only come from a collaboration.”
Toriyone and Hoshino-Oto
Summary
This article introduced the Premium Dining gastronomy tour of Kyoto Gastronomy 2024, held at Hoshino-Oto, and the Kyoto Gastronomy Award 2024.
The area around Miyazu City in Kyoto Prefecture, home to Hoshino-Oto, has many more lesser-known local ingredients.
Hoshino-Oto plans to keep creating original dishes and contributing to gastronomy tourism in Kyoto to share the appeal of Kyoto by the Sea.
