Tuesday 22 September春 Spring in Melbourne
Kō 9of 72
Caterpillars become butterflies
菜虫化蝶namushi chō to naru
October is full. November opens 1 October.
The kō's plateSakura mochi, salted leaf
This kō
17 to 22 September
Last day today
In season tonight
Sawara, Ocean trout, Broad beans
On the fourteen-course menu
Next kō · Tomorrow
雀始巣 Sparrows start to nest
The menu moves with it
Omakase · Fourteen courses · $295
Tonight walks through the season.
The menu opens on what is leaving, peaks on what is in season, and ends on what has just arrived. Every course is pinned to the kō its ingredient belongs to. Scroll, and the year turns to meet it.
- 名残
- Nagori leaving
- 旬
- Shun in season now
- 走り
- Hashiri just arrived
-
01/ 14
Sakizuke 先付
Tasmanian sea urchin, bluefin, toasted nori
黄鶯睍睆Kō 2 · Warblers sing in the hills
名残 nagori, leaving
-
02/ 14
Hassun 八寸
Broad bean, nanohana, whiting roll, cured yolk, sweet potato
霞始靆Kō 5 · Mist starts to linger
名残 nagori, leaving
-
03/ 14
Owan 椀物
Snapper shinjō in clear dashi, young carrot, kinome
草木萌動Kō 6 · Grass sprouts, trees bud
名残 nagori, leaving
-
04/ 14
Otsukuri 造り
Greenlip abalone, shiso, fresh wasabi
蟄虫啓戸Kō 7 · Hibernating insects surface
名残 nagori, leaving
-
05/ 14
Yakimono 焼物
Sawara over binchōtan, sudachi
菜虫化蝶Kō 9 · Caterpillars become butterflies
旬 shun, in season now
-
06/ 14
Nigiri I 握り
Ocean trout, Macquarie Harbour
菜虫化蝶Kō 9 · Caterpillars become butterflies
旬 shun, in season now
-
07/ 14
Nigiri II 握り
Spencer Gulf king prawn, just warm
雀始巣Kō 10 · Sparrows start to nest
旬 shun, in season now
-
08/ 14
Nigiri III 握り
Bluefin akami, soy-marinated
桜始開Kō 11 · First cherry blossoms
旬 shun, in season now
-
09/ 14
Nigiri IV 握り
Snapper, skin torched, sea urchin
玄鳥至Kō 13 · Swallows return
走り hashiri, just arrived
-
10/ 14
Nigiri V 握り
Kingfish belly, brushed with nikiri
虹始見Kō 15 · First rainbows
走り hashiri, just arrived
-
11/ 14
Nigiri VI 握り
Trout roe and urchin, hand-rolled
葭始生Kō 16 · First reeds sprout
走り hashiri, just arrived
-
12/ 14
Tamago 玉子
Tamago with prawn and mountain yam
霜止出苗Kō 17 · Last frost, rice seedlings grow
走り hashiri, just arrived
-
13/ 14
Soba 蕎麦
Cold soba, Tasmanian buckwheat, spring onion
霜止出苗Kō 17 · Last frost, rice seedlings grow
走り hashiri, just arrived
-
14/ 14
Mizugashi 水菓子
Milk kanten, loquat, salted sakura
牡丹華Kō 18 · Peonies bloom
走り hashiri, just arrived
The Counter · 12 seats
One hinoki counter. Redressed every five days.
Nine metres of Japanese cypress, sanded back each Monday. Two sittings a night, Wednesday to Sunday. Everyone starts together, and Aiko cooks in front of you.
What the room wears this kōKō 9, 17 to 22 September
- Flower
- Cherry, one branch, cut that morning
- Scroll
- Spring rain, in one brushstroke
- Ceramics
- Oribe green, for new leaves
- Incense
- Plum blossom
Chef · Aiko Tanabe
576kō at a Tokyo counter
Eight years in Tokyo. A new menu every five days.
Aiko was born in Melbourne and trained for eight years behind a twelve-seat counter in Tokyo. She came home to cook the kō with what Victoria grows, catches and forages, and to count the year the way she learned it.
“In Tokyo the season tells you what to cook. Here you have to listen harder. The kō are how I listen.”
Tokyo8 years × 72
Hanare, Melbourne153 kō and counting
Sake pairing · Six pours · $140
Sake keeps the seasons too.
-
春ShiboritateKō 1 to 18
Just pressed and unpasteurised. Bright, with a little prickle.
Six pours open on a shiboritate from Niigata with the sakizuke, warm a junmai for the owan, and close on a sparkling nigori with the mizugashi.
-
夏NatsuzakeKō 19 to 36
Light and chilled, lower in alcohol, for warm nights.
Poured cold from glass, alongside the kingfish and the white peach.
-
秋HiyaoroshiKō 37 to 54
Brewed in winter, rested through summer, released once. Round and calm.
Poured at room temperature, alongside pine mushrooms and blue mackerel.
-
冬KanzakeKō 55 to 72
Warmed in a tokkuri to bring the rice forward.
Warmed to 45 degrees, alongside sea urchin and toothfish in saikyō miso.
$140per person, with the omakase
Reservations
November opens Thursday 1 October.
Bookings open at 10am on the 1st of each month, for the month after. October is full; the waitlist is open.
9days to go
November, by kō 5.30pm 8.30pm sitting
- Omakase
- $295 per person, 14 courses
- Sake pairing
- $140, six pours
- Sittings
- 5.30pm and 8.30pm, Wednesday to Sunday
- Deposits
- By card, to hold each seat
Private dining
Take the whole counter.
Twelve guests, one sitting, the full omakase. Choose any kō in the next six months and Aiko writes the menu for those five days.
$3,540 for twelve$1,680 sake pairing for the table
EnquireKō still open for the whole counter
Hold a kō with a deposit. Aiko writes the menu the week before.
Visit
Down Rutherford Lane.
- 01
Walk Flinders Lane between Elizabeth and Queen Streets.
- 02
Turn into Rutherford Lane. It is the narrow one.
- 03
Find the white lantern marked 離.
- 04
Ring once. We will come to the door.
- Address
- 4 Rutherford Lane, off Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000 - Sittings
- Wednesday to Sunday
5.30pm and 8.30pm