Osteria Sincerita: An Italian restaurant born of adversity

“Of course, the pandemic was a factor,” he said, “but as planning progressed, I also felt a certain discomfort about creating cuisine in Tokyo and realized I wanted to work in a regional area after all.” It was then that an offer came from Osteria Sincerita, and he decided to relocate to Akayu.

When the location changes, so does the cuisine. While Niigata and Yamagata are adjacent prefectures, their culinary cultures are quite different. On today’s gastronomy scene, the practice of modifying local dishes has become widespread — and Harada, too, often draws inspiration from dishes rooted in the Okitama basin, which includes Akayu. An example is Yamagata dashi, made from chopped summer vegetables such as eggplant and cucumber, combined with kombu seaweed. Harada’s version is made with winter vegetables and combined with risotto. He also created a lighter version of imoni, a traditional Yamagata stew made with taro root and meat, preparing it in the style of noppe soup from Niigata Prefecture and serving it for breakfast. While his dishes are Italian, there are strong undertones of Japanese — and specifically Yamagata — cuisine.

Harada was particularly impressed by the food culture disseminated by Harunori Uesugi — the Yonezawa domain daimyo extolled as a wise ruler in the Edo Period — to help people endure severe environmental conditions. Uesugi recommended edible wild plants as emergency provisions in a time of famine, and promoted carp farming (which he is said to have originated in the castle moat) as a secure source of protein in winter. And today, these ingredients appear in new forms in the restaurant’s course menu.

Harada explained: “Niigata is a carp-producing area, too, but most of the carp are the colorful nishikigoi raised as ornamental fish. In this area, people used to build ponds next to their houses and raise carp, and today it’s such a common food that it’s sold in supermarkets.” Thus, even the humble carp that Harada transforms into splendid cuisine for guests’ enjoyment has a complex history. Visitors to Osteria Sincerita are sure to be moved by the ingenuity and vitality of Yamagata Prefecture’s people, who have overcome famine, war and disaster and continue to live life to the fullest.