Rakuichi from Niseko was invited by Rene Redzepi of the famed NOMA restaurant to present at this year’s MAD4 Symposium held on 24 and 25 August 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hosted by Rene Redzepi and co-curated by Brazilian chef Alex Atala of D.O.M., this year’s MAD themed “What is Cooking?” focused on the fundamental aspects of cooking, as well as a back-to-basics reevaluation of what it means to cook for a profession.
Tatsuru Rai, owner and chef of Sobatei Rakuichi, and his wife Midori kicked off the 2-day event with a 15-minute ‘live’ demonstration of the delicate craft in the making of soba – a performance that was described by online food blog ‘EATER’ as a “mesmerizing demo” of Tatsuru-san’s soba making process.
From the EATER blog post:
Soba noodle master Tatsuru Rai — owner and chef of Japan’s Sobatei Rakuichi — led off the conference with a wordless and mesmerizing demo of his noodle-making process. The audience watched in silence as the chef very precisely and quickly transformed the ingredients of the dough into cooked soba noodles, which was handed out to a few audience members in the front row. Overheard in the audience after the presentation: Austin chef Paul Qui noting that the entire process took only about 14 to 15 minutes altogether.
We often enjoy eating at Rakuichi and it’s one of the must-see cultural / food stops in the Niseko area. From all of us at 360niseko we would like to extend our congratulations to Tatsuru and Midori.