PHOTO
Gallery
THE ASO CYCLE
The Aso Cycle
From Aso to the Sea: The Cycle of Life
Rain that falls on Aso seeps into the earth, rises as spring water to nourish Kumamoto, and flows as rivers to the Ariake and Yatsushiro Seas. The water enriches the land, sustains people’s lives and food, and carries the bounty of the mountains to the sea.
Set in a village of water, Asato can look closely at this cycle and the ties between places. Over the course of the meal you feel that flow and cycle, as the bounty of each region comes together on the plate.
From Mountain to Sea
INGREDIENTS & VESSELS
Ingredients & Vessels
Ingredients and Vessels
What you taste on a journey carries the landscape of the land and the time of the people who live there. How are Kumamoto’s ingredients grown, and through whose hands do they reach us?
At HONO we visit producers and makers, and have furnished the table with ceramics and cutlery from Kumamoto as well as its ingredients. Those who grow, those who make, those who cook: the wisdom and handwork each has inherited comes together at the table.
Beyond the plate, you will want to walk the land and meet its people. From Asato’s table, a journey through Kumamoto.
RESTAURANT ASATO
Dinner
A reflection of the terroir: Asato’s course of about eight dishes.
Aso; Yatsushiro and Hitoyoshi; Kumamoto, Tamana and Arao; Amakusa…
The chef visits producers across the region, encountering the nature and ways of life behind each ingredient, and brings their appeal to the plate. It opens with water and closes with salt. A course that savours the bounty unique to this land, nurtured by the terroir of each part of Kumamoto.
| Hours | 18:00- / 19:00- (L.O. 21:00)* Hours differ in the off-season |
|---|---|
| Guests | Open to non-staying guests as well |
Reservations: please call us by 12:00 noon two days before your visit.
0967-65-8228
Please note that the ingredients used and the number of dishes may change depending on the season and the day’s supply.
RESTAURANT ASATO
Breakfast
A morning filled with the bounty of Minami-Aso.
Ten dishes made only with ingredients from the village, most of them grown without pesticides.
There is no bread. With freshly cooked naturally grown rice, we serve a breakfast that could only come from this place.
| Hours | 07:30 – 10:00 (L.O. 09:00) |
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CHEF
Yamato
Imanishi
Executive Chef Yamato Imanishi
When I first came to Aso, I felt what a mysterious place it was, so full of energy.
The story this land has woven over a thousand years. The story of cycle and coexistence of people who have lived close to nature.
If my cooking can connect people and nature, and become a chance to look again at the relationship that should exist between them, I would be glad.
FORAGING
Foraging
Touch nature, and recover your original senses.
Foraging is one of the concepts of the entire retreat. Through the primal act of gathering, we explore together with our guests the original relationship with nature that modern people are beginning to forget.
