The Restaurant Show, 10-12 October, took place at Earls Court 2 and welcomed over three hundred exhibitors including the Japanese Knife Company, Typhoon and Suzuki Shuzouten Co., exhibiting an assortment of sakes at the AKITA-JAPAN stand. The Centre Stage saw cooking demonstrations from a wide variety of professional chefs who shared their hard-earned knowledge and expert tips whilst taking the audience on a spate of culinary journeys. Roka's head chef Hamish Brown along with sake sommelier Satomi Okubo took to the stage on the opening morning of the show to demonstrate how sake can complement a range of dishes, including dessert. Roka's demonstration was a welcome addition to the Centre Stage menu, allowing the audience to fully appreciate the diversity and variety of sakes on the market.

Roka's head chef Hamish Brown and sake sommelier Satomi Okubo introduced around a hundred audience members to the individual characteristics of four sakes from various regions in Japan and their accompanying dishes, with a succession of four short and lively cooking demonstrations. As with wine, the sake is chosen first, and then the food matched. Thinking about where the sake actually comes from can also help when deciding on the dish. “Each prefecture focuses on what they're good at, and they perfect and master those products”, Hamish informed us, as Satomi presented the first sake from Fukui prefecture, a region famous for its seafood specialities.   An earthy, nutty and smooth drink was matched with a Carpaccio salad. Thinly sliced yellowtail, mizuna leaf, pickled carrots and sweet potato were generously dressed in Roka's own ponzu sauce (juice from Japanese citrus fruit yuzu, mixed with soy sauce) and truffle oil.

The demonstration's aim was to allow people to get to know sake as a drink that can complement and complete a meal, as Satomi highlighted, “customers aren't confident with sake as they don't quite know how sake goes with food”. The Kokuryu brewed sake from Fukui bought out the flavours of the yellowtail and truffle oil, whilst leaving a pleasant aftertaste. “A nice long taste with the combination of the sake and food should continue after you finish eating and drinking” Hamish added.

A junmai sake, Masumi Okuden Kanzukuri from Nagano's Miyasaka brewery was matched with aubergines generously dressed in a miso and sesame dressing. “Nagano prefecture is really cold in winter and the air is very pure and clean. The water is extremely soft so there are less minerals like calcium, which gives it a feminine, elegant characteristic” Satomi explained. A more complex sake may have overpowered the already strong flavours of the dish, but this subtle sake complemented its richness perfectly.

Satomi and Hamish worked together to bring balance to each of their dishes. Emphasizing Roka's food-sharing, family style dining ethos, eight volunteers from the audience sat up close to the kitchen action and shared the dishes and sake as they came. A Japanese take on a European product followed with foie gras marinated in umeshu , or plum wine, and wrapped in nori . Served with black bread made with fresh nori paste and squid ink, this eclectic dish was matched with warmed-up ginjo sake from Yamagata's Dewazakura brewery. “Usually you can't taste the characteristics of sake when it's warm, hot sakes can hide flavours but this one works really well, it's fragrant, aromatic, fruity and elegant, a quality sake.”

Satomi Okubo finished her sake tour with Fukuju Awasaki, a sweet, sparkling, cloudy or “nigori” sake from Nada, Kobe. With a low alcohol content at 6%, the sweet junmai sake goes very well as an aperitif or with dessert. A black sesame parfait with cherry jelly, mochi, (glutinous rice) and macaroons completed Hamish Brown's appetising four-course meal. Paul Mercieca, one of the tasters who sampled each dish and sake commented; “I eat in the best restaurants in London and usually drink wine or champagne as they just don't push sake enough. Here, they got the sake and food absolutely well matched.” Indeed it was a welcome and insightful collaborative effort from Roka, helping to promote greater awareness of the versatility of sake, and how like wine, it can complement a plethora of diverse dishes.