Our students open a pop-up restaurant in Japan with rice as the star
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Faire défiler la pageAs part of the Bachelor’s in International Culinary Arts Management, our students have the choice of several specialisations in their third year. One of these, “Cuisine & Culture of Japan”, allows them to spend 7 months in the land of the rising sun. To mark the end of their course in Japan, they opened a temporary restaurant for 10 days in Sapporo and Muroran.
A period of exploration not to be underestimated
With the support of their professors from the Hokuto Bunka Academy and Marielle Salvador, Associate Professor of Marketing at Institut Lyfe, our students had to master all the stages involved in opening a pop-up restaurant: from market research and concept to drawing up a business plan.
The construction phase, which began well before the opening of their temporary restaurant, gave them a better understanding of this type of a project in a country that is, to say the least, culturally different from their own. The students worked on all the essential aspects of running a restaurant, from finance and communication to decor and human resources. Not forgetting the most important part, the menu, which they decided to centre around a key element of Japanese cuisine – rice.
Oryza, rice as the central theme
Oryza is a pop-up Franco-Japanese restaurant where the common thread running through the entire menu is rice, a central ingredient in Japanese cuisine. Our Culinary Arts students wanted to challenge themselves to work with this ingredient, featured in almost every Japanese meal. Their aim was to take Japanese customers on a journey by presenting rice in ways they might not expect, but without disconcerting them.
In an assignment undertaken by a mix of nationalities, the undergraduates decided to create a menu that embraced cultural diversity. Each of the dishes on offer tells a story, from amuse-bouche to dessert, with each course representing the nationality of one of the students who took part in the project.
It was a big risk to take, but now that the restaurant has closed its doors, we’re delighted with the feedback we’ve had over the last 10 days.
By using rice in a range of forms (flour for bread, alcohol for a digestif, puffed rice as an accompaniment to a dish), our students managed to surprise their Japanese clientele. A challenge met with flying colours!
As part of our Bachelor’s in International Culinary Arts Management, and depending on the pathway chosen, students have a choice of several specialisations for their 3rd year: Gastronomic Cuisine; Bistronomic Cuisine; Cuisine & Culture of Japan (French-speaking pathway); Nutrition and Wellness by Institut Michel Guérard*** (French-speaking pathway).
(Re)read Maud’s story, a 3rd year student on the Bachelor’s in International Culinary Arts Management who spent 7 months at the Hokuto Bunko academy.