The chef has continually upped his culinary game through a quarter-century of self-instruction, hopping from restaurant to restaurant to sharpen his instincts. The result is his cooking with iron and copper plates. Fluffy omelettes and deep-fried knots of fish paste are grilled on copper, pungent stir-fried noodles and beef steaks on iron. Tonpeiyaki (cabbage and pork wrapped in an omelette) is braced with sage for a hint of Italian. Rum is added to crêpes in the French style. Imagination and passion are cooked into every dish.