Agnieszka Dobrzanska-Horikoshi: Polish Cuisine in Japan

Agnieszka Dobrzanska-Horikoshi: Playing With Polish Cuisine in Japan

polska_restauracja_japonia_2.jpg, default, Aga Horikoshi at her restaurant 'Smok Wawelski' (The Wawel Dragon), Japan, photo: Culture.pl, Agnieszka Dobrzanska-Horikoshi: Playing With Polish Cuisine in Japan

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#polish cuisine

The owner of Smok Wawelski (The Wawel Dragon), the only Polish restaurant in Japan, discusses her culinary adventures in Utsunomiya and beyond.

Anna Włodarczyk (AW): Where did the idea of establishing a Polish restaurant in Japan come from?

Agnieszka Dobrzanska-Horikoshi (ADH): This idea evolved over a period of seven years. In Poland, I graduated from a culinary vocational high school, and later, I worked in many restaurants. However, when I came to Japan with my husband, I didn’t know the specifics of the local culinary industry. I wanted to learn about Japanese people’s tastes and preferences, and understand what’s important to them in the kitchen. So, I decided to get a job in a bakery. I worked there for seven years, during which I gained invaluable experience – I learned the Japanese approach to customers, as well as their expectations.

I left my job at the bakery when I got pregnant. It was then that I realised I had learned all I could there. When my son went to kindergarten, I felt ready to open my own place.

AW: Wasn’t it scary to start your own restaurant?

ADH: No, absolutely not. I wanted to create something that was solely mine, invented and made from start to finish by me – with the support of my husband, with passion as well as a smile. I assumed that if nothing came out of it – and I knew that might be the case – I would treat it as another stage, a new experience. At the beginning, it actually wasn't even supposed to be a restaurant, but a café...

AW: So is that why the signboard with a dragon holding a cup has the word ‘kawiarnia’ (café) on it?

ADH: Yes, it was supposed to be a café where you can drink coffee, fruit or herbal tea, which are fantastic in Poland but not very well known in Japan – and have a cake with it, or some wonderful Polish dessert. I work alone and so am not able to do everything by myself, hence the idea for a café instead of the ‘heavy’ gastronomy business. That was the original plan – I wanted to see if it would even work.

AW: How did the café evolve into a restaurant?

ADH: It was the customers' idea – God forbid, not mine! Statistics show that 50% of Japanese restaurants close after six months. This is really a large percentage – staying on the market isn’t easy, and you have to fight for your customers. That’s why I was reluctant at first to start a Polish restaurant, especially since Polish cuisine was completely unknown here and the products were scarcely available. But customers who came to me for coffee and cake often said that they’d like to try other Polish dishes.

Just then, the last Polish restaurant in Tokyo closed down. I thought that maybe Japanese customers were looking for something different from what restaurateurs were offering them. Maybe we weren’t meeting their expectations. I wondered how to present Polish cuisine and our culture in a way that would appeal to their tastes. I decided to try to do it my own way and see if the customers would accept it.

I wanted to tell the story of Poland not only through the dishes, but also through the décor and the restaurant’s ambiance. From there came the idea to cover the walls with salt tiles, referring to the Wieliczka Salt Mine – which Japanese people find to be one of the most interesting Polish tourist attractions. I also have a miniature brine graduation tower built by my husband. The lamps above the tables, made from porcelain cups from Chodzież, are also his work. In a display case, I have amber products, crockery from Bolesławiec and salt from Wieliczka –which you can buy as souvenirs – as well as home-made liquors.

Apart from that, I focussed on building relationships with my customers, meeting their needs and combining Japanese attentiveness and attention to detail with Polish hospitality. I guess it was the right combination of these two worlds that paved the way to success.

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The Polish restaurant 'Smok Wawelski' (The Wawel Dragon), Utsunomiya, Japan, photo: Culture.pl

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AW: Why Utsunomiya and not, for example, Tokyo?

ADH: I’ve been living in Utsunomiya for 16 years now. I decided to open the restaurant in my house so as to not risk too much if it were to fail – that’s why Utsunomiya was a natural choice for me. I didn't want to rent a place and be forced to serve as many customers as possible to earn rent. This way, I’m independent, and I can do everything the way I want. This means I also have time to take care of my customers, ask them what they like. This is not really possible in a big restaurant where the owner has no direct contact with the customers, because there is a whole chain of people between them: waiters, cooks. And Polish cuisine is difficult – there are many wonderful things in it, but the trick is how to show them and still meet the expectations of Japanese customers. That's why I highly value my guests’ feedback. When I hear that a dish doesn’t suit them, it disappears from the menu.

Customers often ask me why I don't move my restaurant to Tokyo. Only when they sit here for a minute, listen to the music, look at the greenery outside the window and hear the birds singing, do they admit that it would be impossible to create such an atmosphere in a big city.

AW: What are the origins of the name ‘Smok Wawelski’?

ADH: While establishing my life in Japan, I wanted to keep a piece of Poland with me. I love Kraków – I am very sentimental when it comes to that city, and my restaurant is full of Kraków-based inspirations. Besides, I love animals and have been dreaming about an iguana for a long time. When I finally managed to fulfil this dream, the iguana became the restaurant’s mascot. It is my miniature Wawel Dragon (Smok Wawelski), from which the restaurant takes its name.

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Agnieszka Dobrzanska-Horikoshi's Polish restaurant 'Smok Wawelski' (The Wawel Dragon), Utsunomiya, Japan, photo: Culture.pl

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AW: What menu do you suggest to your guests?

ADH: The menu changes seasonally, but the regular hits remain.

AW: What are the hits?

ADH: At the top of the list are the long-smoked meats: turkey and chicken which I import through a company from Poland. Coming in second place are the potato pancakes, which I serve with meat sauce – it's my own recipe. The third is bigos, and also pierogi with fruit, which I serve as a dessert, not a dinner dish.

AW: I must admit – these dumplings have surprised me. Although Utsunomiya is called the ‘dumpling capital of Japan’, they are completely different from Polish dumplings. Dumplings with fruit, served as a sweet dish, are difficult for Japanese diners to accept. How did you manage to convince your customers?

ADH: I wanted to offer dumplings that are totally different from those known in Japan, which is why I serve dumplings with fruit, and not, for example, with cabbage. This is a seasonal dish – but here, in the Tochigi Prefecture, which is famous for strawberry growing, the season for this fruit lasts from December until May. My dumplings are slightly different from the Polish ones, because Japanese customers don’t expect me to prepare typical Polish dishes. The dough has to be softer and thinner, because the kind we make in Poland don’t suit tastes here.

AW: What do Japanese people find fascinating about Polish cuisine?

ADH: Japanese people – I am referring to the more traditional Japanese people amongst whom I live, and not to the young people hungry for culinary novelties – like meat. Vegetarian dishes are not something that can delight them. They like Polish meat dishes, but they must be delicate – rather lightly seasoned.

Besides that, they like soups – in Poland we have wonderful, aromatic soups full of vegetables, which we can confidently offer to any Japanese person. It's a dish for everyone: from a one-year-old child to a 90-year-old. Sometimes, when mothers with children come to me, I see the children snatching spoons full of soup from their mothers. Then I’m happy, because I know they like it.

Polish cuisine abounds in smoked products: meat, cold cuts, fish, cheese. Smoked meats may not be for everyone, but many Japanese diners enjoy them. We also have great seasonal fruits, which can be used in the kitchen in various ways: raspberries, blackberries, blueberries or even currants, which are luxury items in Japan.

Japanese people are also fascinated by our herbal and fruit teas. At first I was afraid that they would be too exotic for them, but it turned out that they find this otherness appealing.

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Agnieszka Dobrzanska-Horikoshi's Polish restaurant 'Smok Wawelski' (The Wawel Dragon), Utsunomiya, Japan, photo: Culture.pl

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AW: What Polish dishes do you recommend to Japanese people traveling to Poland?

ADH: It’s difficult to make a general suggestion – so much depends on the individual person. You have to take into account whether this is an older person, with a traditional approach, or a young person, open to new tastes. If they’re going to Poland in the autumn, I recommend they try Polish mushrooms, which we have so many varieties of. There is such an abundance of boletes, chanterelles and bay boletes, which can’t be found in Japan. You have to see them, and you have to see them at a market, not in a supermarket.

Generally, I think that a great asset of Polish cuisine is its seasonality. This is our ‘superpower’, because if the same tourist will come back later, at another time of the year, they can try something completely different. If we offer the same thing all the time, they’ll get bored quickly. Another thing I could recommend are Polish nalewki and meads, which have an even longer history. Mushrooms and pickled vegetables are also available all year round, and these can be served with dinner.

AW: What challenges does a Polish restaurant owner face in Japan?

ADH: The biggest challenge is finding ways to meet customer expectations. I had to forget how this is done in Poland and learn everything from scratch here. In addition, there are problems with ingredients, because the products used in Polish cuisine are difficult to find here or are very expensive. I’m forced to look for substitutes. Polish cuisine is not cheap – not only because of how much products cost, but also because of the preparation time, which is generally longer than in Japanese cuisine, and, consequently, the cost of gas. I cope with the lack of ingredients by growing my own herbs and edible flowers, which I use to decorate dishes. I can also count on the support of my neighbours – many of them have gardens or fields where they grow mint, beetroot, dill, parsley or special varieties of vegetables not available in shops.

AW: And what are the good things about running a Polish restaurant in Japan?

ADH: Customers’ acclaim has exceeded my wildest expectations. Thanks to the restaurant, I meet wonderful people and get to hear extraordinary stories. For example, I’m regularly visited by a Japanese pianist who lives in France with her French husband and comes here when she’s visiting Japan. It turned out that she often performs in my hometown of Sosnowiec and Kraków. It’s extremely nice that someone comes here from so far away. The gratitude of my customers, and the greeting cards and emails I get from them, are the best rewards for me.

AW: Who are your customers?'

ADH: The restaurant is a bit hidden, so it's not just random people who happen to be passing by and drop in for a snack. I don't promote my restaurant. I don't care about crowds of customers, because I know not everyone will appreciate what I do. A customer has to find me on their own, search on the Internet or hear something about me in order to come here. There are many who are planning a trip to Poland and would like to learn more about our country and its cuisine before leaving. They are often women, because in Japan they are usually the initiators of such trips. They bring their husbands to check whether Polish cuisine will suit them. If a typical Japanese man, who as a rule will not touch anything except Japanese food, eats dinner with me and is satisfied – he can go.

People planning a trip to Poland ask me practical questions: when the best time to go is, what to see. Then I take out books and maps, of which I have plenty, and tell them. It brings me a big smile when they later send me e-mails and photos of their trip.

I am visited by many musicians, mainly pianists, connected to Poland because of Chopin’s music. There are also students who, before going to Poland to study or on holiday, come here with their mothers, who are full of anxiety about their children going to the other side of the world. But when they see such a cheerful Pole, with the restaurant itself also being cheerful, their fears dissipate.

AW: So it's not just food they're after?

ADH: They care about the atmosphere, not just the food. I think the atmosphere is even more important. They want to see how they will feel in Poland. A visit to my restaurant is their first contact with Poland, their first impression. I can either encourage them to go or completely discourage them.

AW: That’s a real responsibility!

ADH: I like it. Maybe because I like Japan and Japanese people – we understand each other well. I try to show them something more than just the cuisine, because the cuisine is just one piece of the puzzle. When you don't see the whole picture, it's difficult to fit that piece somewhere. It's only when you add other pieces to it that they start to fall into place and form a whole.

AW: Your guests sometimes come from very far away. Is it a peculiarity of Japanese customers that they might visit a restaurant on the other side of the country?

ADH: Oh yes, a motivated Japanese customer doesn’t mind long distances – even a few hundred kilometres – and coming from so far away, they can appreciate all the more what they find on the spot. Polish customers are discouraged by longer distances. I've had guests from Kyushu and Osaka, and one man flew all the way from Hokkaido. Some of them are even glad that my restaurant isn’t in Tokyo, because they can plan lunch at my place as part of a day trip, combined with a visit to the mountains in the national park in Nikko, which is not far from here, or visiting local temples listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

AW: You often return to the issue of meeting the expectations of Japanese customers. How do they differ from the expectations of the Polish customer?

ADH: The Japanese are more attentive, paying attention to every detail, from the décor of the restaurant to the composition of the food and how it is served. They are extremely demanding, but appreciate attention to detail. They also like consistency – they aren’t happy when the taste of the food changes. In Poland, we like improvisation, which can be developing and creative: when a product is missing, we replace it with another, creating a new quality. A Japanese customer, on the other hand, typically expects that when they return to the restaurant after a long time, the dishes will be prepared in exactly the same way, using the same specific varieties of vegetables. This is a big challenge for me, because the products that are for sale are constantly changing.

Listening to the needs of your customers is vital. We can’t expect them to delight in the same things that we do. We have a lot of great things in Poland, but people may not be ready for them here in a given moment for various reasons. Instead of offering them what we’d like to show off about ourselves, we need to understand what they want from us.

AW: Do you have to change the Polish recipes a lot to make the dishes tasty for your Japanese diners?

ADH: A lot, because there's no denying that we have completely different culinary tastes. I dedicate a lot of time to perfecting my dishes, testing them on my husband and his family before I serve them to customers. So it is Polish cuisine, but more my own version. I cook for Japanese people, and so it is them I must please. If I have a choice between capturing some aspect of Polish tastes and making it interesting for Japanese people, and cooking something to a tee according to the traditional Polish recipe and discouraging them… I choose the first option. I prefer playing with cuisine instead of rigidly copying recipes.

AW: Do you also present Polish cuisine outside of the context of your restaurant?

ADH: If I have the opportunity and time, I like to cook for various Polish events. This is mainly the Polish Festival in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, which takes place every year in October, and also events organized by the Polish Embassy and the Polish Institute in Tokyo. I take part in them two or three times a year, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my work at the restaurant. Above all, I have to take care of my customers, who are demanding yet simultaneously very understanding of me. They understand that when preparing for an event, I have to close the restaurant for a while – but I can't allow them to see it closed too often!

Interview conducted in Polish, Mar 2020, translated by Agnes Dudek, Aug 2021

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