A Warhol-esque screen print of a smiling of Papa San, Cape Town’s patron saint of sushi, welcomes me into what is soon to become the new place of worship for ex-Minato zealots, Takumi.
Takumi’s interior is a far cry to that of Minato, the slightly pokey, unpretentious locale in Buiten Street that formerly belonged to Papa San. Back when he ran the show, the small space would be filled with up to 70 guests a night.
The décor of his newly opened establishment is pared down and monochromatic, with rough-hewn brick surfaces, Scandinavian-inspired wooden shutters and delicate silk cocoon-like lampshades that cast a peaceful glow about the place. The only discernable colour in the milieu is bright red, visible in the serviettes on the coal-black tables, and in the sashes worn by the otherwise black-clad waitrons.
Before service starts, Papa San, or Hatsushiro Muraoka if we’re being official, joins me.
Diminutive in stature, he greets me with a firm handshake and the same warm smile I saw when entering. I soon find out that he has a wicked sense of humour when I ask him why he sold Minato three years ago. ‘My wife the elephant, me the mouse!’ he answers in a staccato Japanese accent, a playful grin creeping across his face. ‘Every night we’re full. Mama San say, “No, Papa San too tired, maybe he quickly die,” so we closed.’
An amazing life
Papa San proceeded to sell Minato to Chinese friends before moving back to Japan with Mama San to retire. Before long, however, Papa San became disillusioned with their new life of leisure and soon hankered after his life as a restaurateur, not to mention Cape Town’s pristine putting greens.
Asked what Mama San said about his decision to return to work and the Mother City, he answers, ‘My wife says, “You work, your choice.” Me, I like to work. Me 13 years old when I start to work with newspaper. Now 68. Me like to work.’
The man certainly has an amazing life behind him. After delivering newspapers in Tokyo, he joined a sushi bar at 16. For the first two years, he did the washing up. After that, he was allowed to go to the market to buy fish and clean them. Finally, after seven years’ hard graft, he got to make sushi and the master was born.
After a successful career in Tokyo, Papa San came to South Africa in 1989 at the age of 45 on request from a friend who worked at the Johannesburg restaurant, Daruma. ‘At that time Japanese people don’t know South Africa,’ he says. ‘We thought, maybe jungle with lion and elephant.’ After about four years cheffing at Daruma, Papa San moved to the Cape Town, where he opened Tokyo Restaurant, and five years after that, he made the move to Minato, a sushi bar that earned him a cult following amongst Capetonians.
He is admittedly a bit disappointed with the state of some sushi restaurants in South Africa, saying that here, many people call themselves sushi chefs after training for just three months.
Top-secret ingredients
Asked what marks an extraordinary piece of sushi, Papa San says that, apart from the freshest fish you can find, the rice has a lot to do with it. Firstly, it needs to have the right flavorants, which in Takumi’s case are vinegar, sugar, salt and two top-secret ingredients Papa San gets from Japan.
Secondly, the rice needs to be served at room temperature, which is achieved by keeping it warm in an imported machine. ‘Wait, I show you!’ says Papa San, jumping up from the table and heading to where I assume is the kitchen. I mistakenly take this as my cue to follow him, but halfway to the kitchen, he turns around and says, ‘No, you wait there. I show you. I bring, I bring rice!’ I guess he’s pretty serious about protecting the identity of those secret ingredients.
In no time it’s time for Papa San to start preparing for the night’s service. I can’t resist prolonging my stay and ask for a menu from one of the elegantly dressed waitrons. The title page reads as follows:
Papa San’s House Rules
- No debates allowed about who serves the best sushi in Cape Town.
- Order quick and enjoy the wait with your friends.
- Some dishes are quicker to make than others, share and share alike.
- Please specify if you don’t want any wasabi on sushi.
- Please direct any complaints to Papa San.
- No pets, children under 10 years old or wise guys.
- As always: open until owner’s choice.
After a glorious dinner that starts with sushi and concludes with a bowl of piping hot noodles, I think it’s apt to say that I’m all set to go and spread the gospel.
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