Koya Ko recently opened on Broadway Market. What makes this different from your other restaurants?

Koya Ko has a slightly more casual take on what we’ve been doing, with a self-service counter to order at and to pick up food from, and a simplified menu. The narrow room reminds me of fast-paced noodle bars at train stations in Japan. “Why can’t fast food be quality food?” is where the concept came from. I’ve kept the menu straightforward and easy to understand, but retained our strong foundations, principles and quality.

The past two years have been particularly hard for restaurateurs. What have you learned?

Most importantly, to be flexible. I learned to be able to let certain things go, and hold on to the important bits. To take care of your family, staff and suppliers. To keep moving and making. 

Koya opened in Soho in 2010. Do Londoners know more about udon now, and do they have more to learn? 

Yes I think Londoners now know more about udon, although we still get referred to sometimes as a ramen bar! So I guess yes to the second question, too…

What piece of kitchen equipment should everyone have in their kitchen?

A Japanese vegetable scrub called a tawashi is a must in our kitchen. It’s made of hemp palm fibres and thoroughly brushes the dirtiest vegetables. It’s durable and tough with pointed bristles, so it’s also good for cleaning anything with a detailed imprint or wooden chopping boards.  

What ingredient can you not live without?

Rice vinegar always works.

Who is your role model and why?

A Japanese cookbook writer called Yoshiko Tatsumi. One of her famous books and one I cherish is For You – A Soup To Hold Your Life. She writes of familiar recipes like simple consommé but made with so much care and honesty, it makes me rethink about cooking every time I read her book. 

What are your biggest passions outside of food and drink?

I guess it’s a little food related, but I think gardening provides so much calmness and nourishment. I can spend hours in the garden: there’s always something that needs doing, and it really is gratifying 

What is your favourite restaurant in the world and why?

En Boca is a pizza restaurant in Japan. They started out in a beautiful wooden house in Karuizawa (Nagano prefecture) in the Shinshu mountains, surrounded by trees and their vegetable garden they would cook from, and have a few branches now. They had a small but very attractive presence, serving honest, simple food, cooked in their pizza oven. Their hospitality and food was warm, produce-led and full of love – the best way of cooking that touches people.

What’s next for you and Koya?

We’d love to open another Koya Ko in a different neighbourhood.

Who, living or dead, would you most like to invite for a meal at Koya and what would you serve them?

My grandmother on my mum’s side. I always loved her kitchen and dining room, looking out into her garden with a crape myrtle tree that I used to love. There are so many memories of standing in her kitchen watching her with my mum and aunt cook and chat. 

I would serve her prawn tempura udon with wakame topping.

koya.co.uk