A Kaiseki Dinner At 2 Michelin-Star N/Naka Transported Me Into The World Of Shōgun

If you live in Los Angeles, you know n/naka — or rather you’ve heard of the exclusive Japanese spot because reservations are so damn hard to get. There are countless story swaps of Angelenos’ months-long quest to snag one of the coveted seats in the West LA dining room, thinking one day it’ll be me. So when I was invited to a special dinner at the famed restaurant to celebrate FX’s upcoming epic drama Shōgun, I jumped at the chance. What followed was a culinary journey through Japan’s history and into the world of Shōgun.

I’ve written about the role food plays in Asian cultures, but kaiseki, a centuries-old traditional Japanese culinary art that utilizes the freshest ingredients in season and prepares them to enhance their most natural flavors, evokes a different kind of core food memory. In America, Asian foods were historically relegated to being “cheap takeout,” but chefs Niki Nakayama and Carole Iida solidify that not only can Asian meals be fine dining, but that they can honor tradition and still cater to modern tastes. There’s a reason why n/naka has two Michelin stars.  

The same undervaluing could be said of Asian characters historically portrayed in Hollywood. It wasn’t that long ago Asians were typecasted into specific roles: the emasculated nerd (The Big Bang Theory, Sixteen Candles), the Dragon Lady (Kill Bill), or the Lotus Blossom (Memoirs Of A Geisha). Or that the only Asian stories worth telling had to be rooted in martial arts (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Rush Hour, Kill Bill again). But these days, with shows like BEEF, The Brothers Sun, and now Shōgun, it’s clear that Asian stories can respect their cultural roots with a sophisticated hand for today.

An original adaptation of James Clavell’s historical fiction drama, Shōgun is set in 1600s feudal Japan at the start of a century-long civil war that comes to define the island nation. Lord Yoshii Toranaga (played by the legendary Hiroyuki Sanada) is staving off threats to his life and power from political rivals when English sailor John Blackthorne (Cosmos Jarvis) is marooned in a nearby village, bringing with him secrets about what lurks past the sea horizon. With the help of Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), a Japanese Christian noblewoman who serves as a translator between the two men and whose past has its own secrets, they must navigate the tense political landscape to defeat enemies on all fronts.

It’s hard not to think of 2003’s The Last Samurai, which also stars Sanada, when first watching Shōgun. In both, a white man from the West (in the case of The Last Samurai, that’d be Tom Cruise) brings Western knowledge that can help the Japanese but, despite cultural differences, comes to respect the new world he finds himself in. But there’s an intentionality in Shōgun that, unlike The Last Samurai, keeps the white savior at arm’s length; Japan is the main character and Europe is the foreigner.

That theme carries through the 13-course kaiseki dinner, attended by 30 people, including Sawai, Olympic champion Chloe Kim, and Bling Empire star Kevin Kreider. While some courses show Western influences, the meal is squarely Japanese —  and frankly it should be.

We kick off the three-hour journey with sakizuke, or small appetizer; this night, it’s a sweet corn panna cotta topped with a tomato jam, slow-roasted eggplant along with white sturgeon caviar and Caledonian blue shrimp. We steadily move through the rest of courses: the second appetizer, zensai, is an assortment of amuse-bouche-like bites that include braised A5 Miyazakigyu wagyu, a spiny lobster omelet, and shiitake mushrooms with yuzu; there’s owan (the soup course), which consists of spiny lobster, napa cabbage roll and a dashi broth that’s as clear as untouched waters surrounding the archipelago islands yet to be fully opened to the world; and sunomono, a palette cleanser of Shigoku oyster topped with tangerine, carrots, daikon, and finished with ponzu sauce. 

What’s distinctly special about this culinary experience though are the three courses inspired by characters from Shōgun. Toranaga, the shrewd yet embattled Japanese lord, is paired with the otsukuri (sashimi) course of sea scallop, sea bream, two kinds of tuna, and Hokkaido sea urchin to mirror the mastery of a sushi chef’s knifework in preparing the perfect sashimi plate. John Blackthorne, whose experience in an unfamiliar land comes to redefine him, is interpreted in the yakimono (grilled) course, a tilefish with crunchy edible scales prepared to look like a pinecone, topped with cabbage chips, celeriac puree, tomatillo and black garlic. My personal fave of the night, it shows how an ingredient transforms when cooked over direct heat. Toda Mariko sits between her loyalties to her Japanese lord and her Christian faith; her dish, the shiizakana (hearty) course, is a fusion plate of handmade spaghetti with braised abalone, pickled cod roe, and Burgundy truffles. 

The elegance of Shōgun quite literally is served on a plate, and as we wrap the final two dessert courses, I’m both full and fully invested. The kaiseki dinner, like the show, is an epic voyage that I don’t want to leave. I’ve gotten a Taste of Shōgun and my palate wants more.