NEWSLETTER MIYABI - 10.6.2025

Dear guests, dear friends!

Last week at the IRO exhibition opening at the Japanese Information and Cultural Center on Hellichova Street, I was intrigued by a word that is more than it seems. I was happy to see that its philosophical content is important for those who created this wonderful photo exhibition and those who came to the opening. Talented young beautiful people! The word is: mottainai. Its part mottai means value or importance, and nai is denial, telling that the value is no more, that it is erased, wasted. Therefore, mottainai can be translated as “what a pity”, “what a waste” or even “this would deserve something more”. I think each of us sometimes feels regret that something that has its justification, its value, that could still be useful, is wasted. Thrown into a landfill. Sometimes it literally tears the heart. And if that’s the case, then one needs to think about what could be done a little better with the thing, perhaps reusing it in a different way, recycling it.

My employees may think that I’m exaggerating when I get angry to them for wasting some ingredient. But it really makes me mad. “Mottainai! Mottainai! Can’t you see?” I argue and repeat it many times, for which I have in my opinion good reason. In Japanese gastronomy, there is one very importent concept and it is kansha, i.e. a sense of respect for everything and everyone who contributed to the fact that the ingredient was put on the table as a meal and was as delicious and beautiful as possible. Moreover, kansha is inextricably linked to the idea of Kondate Zukushi, i.e. creating a menu in such a way that every part is used from the ingredient. This is called Ichi Motsu Zen Shoku a znamená to „sníst to celé“. This approach is the only way to honestly thank for the gift of being able to enjoy some ingredient in food. Kansha is probably too philosophical idea and as such not easily comprehented, but we all know immediately when something is mottainai.

Mottainai could also be what I would have done if I had ignored eggplant in the summer, when it is eggplant season, and not included it in our seasonal kaiseki menu. Imagine how great is the chilled eggplant simmered in a strong dashi and ginger. It tastes wonderful on a hot summer day. So refreshing! Chakintamago with shrimp is also refreshing, also nicely chilled. Or hiyeyakko silken tofu. This summer dish has it even in its name – hiye means cold. Misoshiru soup with summer dark miso is also pleasant. You may already remember some of the summer dishes from our menu and are looking forward to them. You may also remember some of our summer bowls. And if so surely you will be tempted by the flavors of the small dishes and the aesthetic presentation of our summer kaiseki 2025. Summer kaiseki will be soon on our menu.

For some time I have had on my mind that it is mottainai, that people know little about Japanese sake. It is so good! It is also called rice wine, although the production process is closer to beer. Sake is a great drink that enhances the taste of Japanese dishes and can be a good experience on its own without food. It is not an aperitif, it is sake. Yes, sake is more expensive than wine, but that is because importing sake from Japan is still becoming too expensive. Even so, it is worth starting to get to know sake. I was wondering how to deal with that mottainai feeling and a year and a half ago I founded our sake lovers club. We call ourselves Sakemilci and we meet in my Zen house once a month, sometimes every two. The members are connoisseurs of sake and wine. And Japan. We have already drunk and rated a lot of bottles of sake. The two rows of sake in the picture, we tasted and we remember them. Each such Sakemilci evening has a theme. For instance one was comparing 4 bottles of sake from the same sake brewery, prepared using the same method, from the same rice, but produced on different soil. Another theme, quite prominent, was sake and chocolate.

Recently I realized that it is mottainai when we enjoy good sake only in our closed circle of Sakemilci friends. That is why, together with Dagmar Kadlecová, a prominent sake sommelier who is also a member of our club, we agreed to offer the sake experience to anyone who is interested. That is how Miyabi’s Sake Omakase offer was born. The next Sake Omakase event is next week, June 17th from 6PM. At first, we wanted to pair different sakes with food, but that would cost customers a lot of money. The latest version of our effort is based solely on sake. And we priced it so favorably that anyone who doesn’t take advantage of the offer would make mottainai decision. Eight types of excelent sake for only CZK 1,000, and moreover, to make you feel good during the evening, Miyabi will add a bowl of very good rice, very good misoshiru, and very good tsukemono. Sake needs to be drunk through and toward it, and we want to help you with this goal. Japanese art and everything that has value needs to be accumulated through repeated experience. We believe that we will gradually be able to create a sufficiently large group of customers who will love sake more and more and will look forward to these Miyabi Sake Omakase evenings. To make the experience of sake lovers very intense, the gatherings will be held in Miyabi Zen house, which I offer only exceptionally. You can make reservation and pay the fee for this event HERE.

There is another opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the Zen house and it is this Saturday, June 14th. The master of the Omotesenke school of tea ceremony, Mr. Soju Nakazawa, is coming from Japan again. He shared his art with us last year in June. It would be absolutely mottainai if we did not invite you to an ochakai – a tea gathering. Such an opportunity is not to be wasted! When else can you meet as a guest Master Soju and experience his otemae, drink tea made by his hand and eat sweets that his favorite Kyoto confectionery specially prepared for this occasion for this tea occasion for you in Prague. I strongly recommend to make your binding reservation for one of the seki: HERE for 1PM, HERE for 3PM and HERE for 5PM. The fee is 450 CZK and there can be a maximum of 8 guests at each seki.

I have one more potencialy mottainai topic to add. Please make a note in your diaries that Miyabi has a few days of company vacation at the beginning of July. It would be a waste of your time – mottainai effort – if you arrived and were stopped by the closed doors. Miyabi will be on holiday from June 30th to July 7th.

Enjoy the summer time, go on trips and add gastronomic enjoyments to your cultural experiences. When you waste or miss good food or a beautiful feeling of something exceptional, remember it is mottainai!

All the best, Your Miyabi Darja