A fresh approach to Japanese food

Tourist trap: Nicolas Soergel stands inside the main store of Chinriu Honten in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, a ciry popular with tourists visiting the nearby hot spring resort of Hakone. TOMOKO OTAKE PHOTOS Nicolas Soergel graciously brings two tiny plates to the table. They each contain three pinkish “umeboshi” (salted, dry plums), but those on one of the plates have been preserved for just one year; the ones on the other plate — whose skins are a little more wrinkled — are three years old. “Please savor the flavor of ‘ume,’ ” he says in fluent Japanese. source