Tatsuro Ume

The Climb

Today, Tatsuro Ume is chef of Respiracion.

Today

In Kanazawa, Ume serves as Owner Chef of Respiración and is also identified as Executive Chef at Respiracion. That role is where his Spanish technique and Ishikawa sourcing meet most clearly. The method is disciplined; the ingredient base is local; the craft sits in the control between the two. Plant-based work is not treated as a separate lane here. Under Ume’s hand, it sits inside the same menu logic as vegetables, fish, rice, citrus, purée, and tart elements. The kitchen keeps that continuity course to course: one plate may press toward brightness, another toward depth or char, but the vocabulary stays consistent. That closeness is not just geography; it is part of the working method. Under the hand of the chef-owner, Ishikawa ingredients are handled with Spanish discipline, and the tension between place and technique becomes the point of the cooking.

Signature

Tatsuro’s signature dishes include paella, pinchos morunos, and mackerel recipe. Each shows a different register of the kitchen: the structure of paella, the direct savor of pinchos morunos, and the composed clarity suggested by the mackerel dish.

In Their Words “Finally, shave the charred yuzu peel.”

Recognition

That line points to a finishing move built on aroma and restraint. It suggests a kitchen attentive to timing, texture, and the last detail that can shift the read of a plate. His vegetable cooking, by his own account, is built around making deliciousness without relying on anything beyond vegetables. The brief is simple, but the work behind it is not: patience, precision, and confidence, with each ingredient asked to stand clearly on its own while still holding its place in a composed whole.