Where Our Ingredients Come From /食材選びについて

Omakase is not a collection of dishes.

It is a progression, shaped by season, balance, and restraint.

Before a menu is written, before a dish takes form, our work begins with ingredients — where they come from, how they were grown or harvested, and how they fit into the rhythm of a course.

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Not Everything Needs to Come from Japan

Japanese cuisine is often associated with ingredients flown directly from Japan.

While origin alone does not define quality, it does matter for certain ingredients.

Australia offers exceptional produce of its own — seafood harvested in clean waters and vegetables grown with clarity and character. Distance, freshness, and seasonality all play an important role in how ingredients perform.

At the same time, there are ingredients that cannot be substituted.

Staples such as rice, vinegar, soy sauce, sansho pepper, shichimi, kinako, and certain types of salt carry a level of precision and balance that remains fundamentally different in Japan. In these cases, the difference in quality is not subtle.

Even within Japan, the quality of these ingredients varies widely — from highly refined, small-batch products to everyday and mass-produced alternatives. Choosing the right one is essential, as each ingredient must suit the role it plays within a dish, rather than its reputation alone.

We travel to Japan regularly to deepen our understanding of these ingredients, their producers, and the regions they come from. What we use in our kitchen is sourced through trusted suppliers, guided by this direct knowledge and careful selection.

Our approach is not to choose one origin over another, but to understand where each ingredient truly belongs. Japanese cuisine, as we practice it here, is built on this balance — respecting what Australia does exceptionally well, while relying on Japan for what only Japan can provide.

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Seafood: Guided by Season and Condition

Seafood selection begins with the season.

We stay in close communication with our fish suppliers, regularly confirming what will arrive and when. By sourcing as close to the booking date as possible, we are able to select seafood at its best condition, with careful attention paid to timing and handling.

Rather than relying on a fixed list of species, we choose fish and shellfish based on condition, timing, and how they will interact within the overall progression of the course.

For this reason, seafood is often not finalised until close to the day of the booking.

By monitoring market conditions and availability in real time, we make decisions based on quality rather than assumption. This allows us to respond to what is truly at its best, rather than committing too early to ingredients whose condition may change.

Australia is home to exceptional seafood, much of which is often overlooked. In some cases, these local ingredients surpass imported alternatives in both freshness and quality. Being able to work with them is one of the privileges of cooking Japanese cuisine in Australia.

This flexibility allows each course to remain precise and balanced, supporting the overall flow of the omakase.

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Vegetables: Selected in Person, Used at Their Best

Vegetables form the quiet foundation of many dishes.

Each week, we select our vegetables in person, choosing them one by one.

Colour and ripeness guide our decisions — subtle cues that determine not only what we use, but how an ingredient is treated.

We plan each course so that vegetables are used at their optimal moment, allowing them to remain fresh and expressive throughout the week. By doing so, every ingredient is served at its best, without being rushed or held beyond its time.

We work primarily with Australian-grown produce, selecting ingredients that express natural flavour rather than intensity. Simple preparations demand good produce — when the ingredient is right, less intervention is required.

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Knowledge, Experience, and Continuing to Learn

Selecting good ingredients requires more than availability.

It requires knowledge, experience, and the ability to judge what truly matters.

I have been fortunate to build this understanding through the chefs I trained under, the suppliers and producers I have worked with, and through travel — discovering ingredients firsthand and learning how they are meant to be used.

Learning also comes from the table.

By dining at other restaurants and observing how ingredients are treated in different contexts, we continue to refine our perspective and deepen our understanding of balance, restraint, and intention.

This process does not end.

Ingredients change, seasons shift, and our understanding must continue to deepen. Learning remains a constant part of our work, and it is something we carry forward with each course we serve.

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Why Our Menu Is Never Fixed

Because our ingredients change, our menu does as well.

This is not uncertainty without structure. What remains constant is the philosophy behind each decision — respect for season, careful timing, and attention to balance across the course.

By allowing the menu to remain flexible until close to the day, we are able to respond to the market and to the ingredients themselves. The experience is shaped in real time, guided by what is at its best at that moment.

That is where our ingredients come from.

小林茉呂

Maro Kobayashi

Chef/Omakase Kobayashi