The cycle of the earth and its crops expressed on a plate
What is a retreat? If it's about resetting the body, how can you truly achieve that? Yufuin is a hot spring resort surrounded by countryside in the mountains overlooking Mount Yufu. Here, in June 2023, an auberge with a botanical retreat concept was born.
Enowa Yufuin has 10 villas and 9 guest rooms scattered gently along the mountain slope, all with open-air baths and natural hot spring water. After warming up your body in the hot spring bathed in greenery and the sauna with a spectacular view, the climax is the food.
Vegetables and herbs grown in his own garden using organic fertilizer are transformed into living dishes. Chef Tashi Jamtso of the restaurant JIMGU is a young and talented chef who previously served as sous chef at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a restaurant in the suburbs of New York that embodies the farm-to-table philosophy.
When he arrived in Japan in 2020, he visited producers across the country to learn about native vegetable varieties and the food culture and climate of each region. He also studied under Teruhisa Ishiwari of Ishiwari Farm in Kyoto, and cultivated land with the restaurant staff. Fortunately, there was also a seed specialist in Yufuin.
"The soil is rich in minerals, and when the vegetables are grown carefully, the flavor is concentrated."
When the chef stands in the fields in the morning, the vegetables tell him what the menu for the day will be. What should the turnips and beets, which have become juicy due to the cold weather, and the zucchini, which have unique colors and shapes, do? The vegetables will be used to cook food for people, and the food waste generated by people will be decomposed in compost and returned to the fields. Once the chicken coop, currently under construction, is completed, the chickens will also eat vegetable scraps and lay eggs, and the chicken manure will be used as fertilizer for the vegetables. The energy used for these will also come from hot spring steam and geothermal energy.
More than 200 types of vegetables and herbs are grown in the fields each year. 
A private farm overlooking Mount Yufu. Farm tours for guests are also being planned. 
The vast grounds cover an area of 44,000m2. You may even be able to see the sea of clouds that covers the Yufuin Basin. 
Enjoy an aperitif in the indoor garden, feeling the breath of the earth and plants. 
Forest Side Villa (108m 2 / 2-3 people) High quality furniture and fixtures.
What is served on a JIMGU plate is this cycle itself. It is not a taste of nature, but a taste brought about by "collaboration." You grab a vegetable with your hands, your heart leaps with the vibrant sweet and sour flavors, and you are astonished by the delicious umami of the grilled skin. Through an eating experience that allows you to listen carefully to the voice of the ingredients, you slowly remember that you too are a part of nature and its cycle.
Two types of eggplant are grilled and pureed, and the shrimp are baked. The skins are also used in the sauce, which is gently thickened with kudzu starch. 
Sautéed Usa sea bream, packed with flavor, and Makomodake bamboo, also known as Mexican truffle, which is "one of the ingredients that impressed me in Yufuin." 
Oven-baked vegetables with three types of sauce and edible flowers, reminiscent of a flower garden 
The welcome bouquet at dinner is made up of produce from the fields.
