"Sutoubu STOVE," a restaurant with interior design by contemporary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, who has recently been involved in planning and directing traditional performing arts, has opened in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture. The restaurant is located at 4551 Nakamaru, Nagasaka-cho, Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture. Located adjacent to the Kiyoharu Art Village, home to the Kiyoharu Shirakaba Museum and the atelier of painter Ryuzaburo Umehara, the restaurant is housed in the renovated Tosei-an building of Isamu Kobayashi, former chairman of Iwanami Shoten and literati painter, which was relocated from Kamakura. The restaurant's name, chosen by Sugimoto, evokes the image of "cherishing materials as if caressing them until they become transparent." The two-story wooden building has a total floor area of 199.15 square meters. The main entrance is hedged with bamboo brooms, a Japanese cedar moss garden is located at the entrance, and there is also an open terrace. The interior has been renovated, with the original ceiling and shoji screens removed, and now features a counter and table seating made from a single piece of cypress. Sugimoto's signature work, "Horizon," is on display, and an original design stove stands in the center.
Chef Hideki Shimizu, who has experience working at long-established French restaurants in Tokyo, is in charge of the cuisine. Dishes centered around fresh local vegetables are served on tableware specially created for the restaurant by ceramicist Taizo Kuroda and others.
Lunch is served from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM (last order 2:30 PM), with courses ranging from 2,500 to 5,000 yen. Dinner is served from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM (last order 8:30 PM), with courses ranging from 4,500 to 8,000 yen. Reservations are required for the chef's selection course. Tea time is available from 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays only. Closed on Mondays (except the following day if a holiday falls on a Monday).
Next spring, a glass-walled tea house designed by Sugimoto is scheduled to be completed within the Kiyoharu Art Village. Currently, near the restaurant, you can also see an "aerial tea house" built in a tree by architect Fujimori Terunobu (the interior is not open to the public).
