Sharing Plates with Koya

Sharing Plates is a series of interviews with those who work in the hospitality industry, documenting their memories of the best moments of service; from the people, ingredients, and dishes, to the sounds and objects in the spaces.

These interviews have been visually translated into a limited-edition series of illustrated plate prints, with each interview drawn by a different illustrator. The prints will be sold, with all profits going to Hospitality Action. Going forward, these illustrations will also be transferred onto ceramic plates, and the collection of interviews and illustrations will be collated into a publication.

The hope is for these memories of positive, bustling, exciting times to provide visions for the future of the hospitality industry while supporting those within it. You can buy the prints here.

SHARING PLATES WITH SHUKO ODA, HEAD CHEF AND CO-FOUNDER OF KOYA

A PROJECT BY PLATE TALKS, ILLUSTRATED BY KITTY GLAVIN

Koya, which means hut or little house in Japanese, is a fittingly and perfectly sized restaurant space on Frith Street in Soho, which specialises in the best udon noodle dishes; an ‘udon-ya’.

The concept was inspired by the thick flour noodles which originate from the village of Sanuki on Shikoku island in Japan, called ‘Sanuki udon’. Traditionally the udon dough is kneaded by foot in several rotations over a period of time, as the weight of the full body helps the process. This, as you can imagine, is very hard manual work so once Koya had garnered enough interest, they invested in a machine which imitates the kneading. The udon noodles must have ‘Koshi’, the perfect balance of silky firmness and elastic bounce, which provides an ideal textural vehicle for the other flavours in the broth or dish, such as the ‘Yasai Ten Hiya-Atsu’ (cold udon in hot broth with vegetable tempura); the ‘Saba’ (hot udon in hot broth with smoked mackerel and green leaves); and the ‘Buta Miso’ (hot udon in hot broth with pork and miso), to name just a few.

The simple design and natural furnishings of the space create a warm and casual environment, well suited to the nourishing food. The long counter seating enables a style of dining where customers can peer over the edge to watch the busy chefs lovingly cook the hand-made noodles, and delicately build each dish with long metal chopsticks and a precise, calm nature. The Japanese aesthetic is reflected in thoughtful and elegant details, like the staff aprons. Designed by Koya, (and handmade and dyed by a small family business in Kyoto) each one is a different beautiful hue of indigo as the colour gently fades with each wash. Here Plate Talks interviews Shuko Oda, the head chef and co-founder of Koya:

Plate Talks: Let’s begin by talking about the beginnings of Koya, which opened in 2010.

Shuko Oda: Yes, so it will be eleven years in April! I had just returned to London from Japan, where I had been working in a kitchen for about two years, and I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to take my career in. I met with a friend of mine, Junya Yamasaki, who was involved in a new project with John Devitt, and they asked if I would be interested in joining the project: to open up an udon restaurant in London. We started planning, and it took about a year for us to sort everything; getting the menu together, finding the right site, sourcing authentic ingredients, training [SO trained for three months at established udon restaurant Kunitoraya in Paris], and travelling, all before we could open in 2010. Five years after opening the first Koya, we opened a little one next door, which is the site we have now. Then Junya went back to Japan, I became pregnant, and we decided that we had enough on our plates, so it was a natural decision to let go of our original Koya and keep the little one. After that, we also opened the City location.

PT: Why did you choose Soho to open the first Koya?

SO: When we first went to the site visit of the original Frith Street space, neither Junya nor I were convinced. Soho was not yet a popular restaurant district. But John convinced us and as we spent more time there, we grew to understand the area and felt that we were better suited to it. Luckily for us, Soho did start becoming a food destination, with places like Barrafina opening up. Opening the location in City really made me realise the charms of the Soho neighbourhood. For example, Soho smells really specific [SO laughs]. Soho definitely shaped who we are; Koya couldn’t have started anywhere else.

PT: You must have seen it change a lot in the past year, almost back to how it was before the restaurant scene grew?

SO: Nowadays when you go into Soho, it’s a completely different town. There’s something very charming and special about Soho that you can’t take away, and that’s how it came back to life after the initial lockdown. I think a lot of people believed that with the theatres staying closed, or this and that not opening up, that Soho wouldn’t feel the same. But I think the spirit of it was still there after the first lockdown because people just love Soho. There was a point during the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme [a UK- wide government-financed promotion throughout August 2020 where people could claim up to £10 off their food and drink bill per person, designed to boost the struggling hospitality industry] when the outdoor dining was allowed, where it did feel like an even stronger community than before the pandemic. It was really nice. But that ended, and it went back to no-mans-land. It will take a little while for Soho to go back to what it was, if it ever does.

PT: Could you describe the Koya space in Soho?

SO: Our restaurant sits so well in Soho because it is just a small bar space. I don’t think it’s for everyone, for example, it’s not very family-friendly if you’re with a small child, or if you’re a group of more than three it’s not the most convenient place to go and talk to your friend when they’re sat metres away from you. But it fits Soho and the crowd of Soho. We have lots of singular dining customers who have been with us from the beginning. There’s this one guy - he’s moved abroad now - who always makes sure to come and eat almost every night whenever he is back in London. It’s really lovely that we get these returning customers; friendly faces. That’s another thing I noticed after lockdown - that these are the people that make our business, and it’s why we’re in this. You re-realise this when it has been taken away from you.

PT: What is the process of making udon?

SO: In a short sentence, to make Udon you first combine the salt water with your udon flour (strong flour), but do not knead it. Then you start kneading by stepping on your dough with your feet, resting it to mature, then stepping again. You repeat this process three or four times. Then the dough is stretched and finally it is cut!

PT: For the ten-year anniversary, you outlined some special ‘blackboard’ dishes from over the years - was there one that was your favourite?

SO: I guess all of the ones that we listed for the ten-year anniversary specials are ones that I liked, but the ones I remember the most are the breakfast dishes, simply because I love breakfast. Breakfast is something I always go back to and something I can eat all day long, so maybe one of the breakfast dishes, such as the ‘English Breakfast Udon’ with bacon, fried egg, and shiitake mushrooms.

PT: Where does Koya get its produce from, and how has it changed over this time?

SO: We get most of our fresh ingredients either from Europe or from the UK, but we import a few things like bonito flakes, shiitake, and soy sauce from Japan. We work very closely with a Japanese Vegetable farm in the UK called ‘NamaYasai’. At work I was eating their vegetables all the time, but of course, when we closed I couldn’t. Fortunately, during the lockdowns they were very good at setting up lots of pick-up points across London for people to collect the produce, which I signed up to. I know a lot of people who really appreciated this source of fresh vegetables. I didn’t really think about how much I missed cooking with their produce until I started getting their vegetable boxes again and using it to feed my family as well. It was a wonderful source of new inspiration.

PT: What objects are essential in the Koya kitchen?

SO: A Japanese pestle and mortar, which is usually ceramic. We use it every day to grind sesame, amongst other things. The front of house staff do it before we start service [SO makes pestle and mortar grinding motion with hands] as a way to get ready for the day, almost like a ritual before service. We also use Japanese ‘Oroshi’ graters, made from metal, that we use to grate ginger and daikon - two things that you can’t do without in an udon restaurant. Also, I don’t know if you’ve ever come across a ‘Tawashi’ scrubbing brush - they’re made from all-natural fibres and used in Japan to scrub pots, but also to scrub vegetables.

PT: What was a typical service before the pandemic like? And how have you adapted over the past year?

SO: A typical service in Soho before the pandemic meant going in early in the morning to prep the stations and serve breakfast, and then from that point it is sort of non-stop. We do have a peak hour, especially at the weekend, but otherwise we sit at a busy level that just keeps going. There isn’t really an end to it before we close. So even at 3 pm sometimes all of the seats are filled. It’s a very different rhythm to how the Koya in City works because over there it is very clear cut - from 11.30 am to 2 pm it gets very intense and the service is quite crazy, and then it just goes dead for three hours after that. In terms of our situation now, we have developed our home-kits for delivery. The most important thing for us, when making this transition, was to provide something that still feels like you are in a Koya restaurant - and also to offer something that people could have fun with as well. Towards the end of the year, we started offering just a simple udon noodle and dashi set, with the idea that people could go wild, go looking into the fridge and freezer and come up with the topping themselves. That attitude and style suits our current situation the best.

PT: Other than work, what else have you been doing during the lockdown? Have you been cooking a lot?

SO: I got into gardening, like everyone else I guess. I hadn’t touched the garden since we moved in so there was lots to do. I like working with my body, so it was a good activity while I wasn’t physically working. And then, of course, I have been cooking a lot as well. My youngest is really into vegetables so cooking the various Japanese vegetables from the ‘NamaYasai’ box and seeing him eat things that I didn’t think he would like has been really exciting.

PT: What are your hopes for the future, both for Koya, but also in terms of the wider hospitality industry?

SO: I feel like there are a lot of people who aren’t feeling very positive, but I think the only thing I could say for everyone in hospitality is that we need to hope for the best right now and try to continue being flexible. I know that not all cuisines are adaptable, but I feel like maybe this is a time that we needed to change our mindsets about certain things. I’ve always been quite precious about what Koya is or who we are, and I think that the lockdown last year made me realise that of course we should be precious about it, but we can’t be stern or stubborn. We need to be more open and try to be as accessible as possible.

PT: What are you most looking forward to when hospitality can re-open? And what will the biggest challenge be?

SO: We’ve re-opened and closed a few times now, and for the past couple of weeks I’ve been feeling very energetic, and positive about getting things done, so I feel like we’ll be ready. I am most excited to see everyone back in the space, especially customers. During the brief period of re-opening when customers were back in the space, we all felt alive and I’m really looking forward to that again.

PT: And lastly, when everything opens again, where is the first restaurant, café or bar you would like to visit?

SO: It is open at the moment for takeaway, but I still haven’t made it to ‘Café Deco’ by Anna Tobias in Bloomsbury. I’d love to go and eat and have a drink there.

This interview took place in January 2021.

All profits from the sales of these prints will go to Hospitality Action (Registered Charity No.1101083)