The characters on the chopstick band read ‘Otagi’, the old name for the region. Out of devotion to his hometown, Kazuaki Baba built his restaurant on his grandmother’s land. He offers generous amounts of vegetables, grown by childhood friends living nearby. His creed is to take some liberties with tradition without exceeding the bounds of Japanese cuisine. The meal wraps up with hashed beef with rice; though many would regard this dish as Western, the dried bonito dashi soup stock, sake, sugar, miso and other ingredients used to make it are strictly Japanese.