My favorite store. Vol.5 Suzuki Chikara "Taroya"
Everyone has their favorite place. Restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops, cafes, bars... Because they know the people there, because the food is delicious, because it's comfortable... The genre and the reasons are different for each person. If there's one thing we can say, it's that if you have such a place, your life will be rich. That's why we want that person to tell us about their favorite place. In the fourth installment, we talk to photographer Suzuki Chikashi about his favorite place, Taroya-san, and Kyoto's potato salad.
The ultimate potato salad.
Over the past few years, I've had more opportunities to visit Kyoto for photo shoots and exhibitions. I have a friend from a production company that I often work with when I go to Kyoto, and when I asked him for a recommended izakaya, he told me about a place called "Taroya." "Taroya" is located in a drinking district, just down an alley from Karasuma, an office district similar to Marunouchi in Tokyo. It's not the kind of place tourists would go, but rather the kind of place locals go after work.
The one thing I always try at Taroya is the potato salad. At first glance it looks like a normal potato salad, but it's delicious. It's hard to describe what's different about it, but you can tell it's been made with time and effort. After researching, I found out that the onions are fried until caramelized to bring out their rich flavor, then mixed with mayonnaise. It seems to be a popular menu item at the restaurant, as it may be sold out if you go late at night.
One thing that all the delicious izakayas in Kyoto have in common is that they all serve delicious potato salad. Most potato salads you eat in Tokyo are so-called mayonnaise flavored, but that's not the case in Kyoto. Not only is it delicious, but one restaurant even had dried squid in it. In any case, you can enjoy a type of unique potato salad in Kyoto that you can't get in Tokyo. That's why one of the things I look forward to when I go to an izakaya for the first time is eating potato salad. I've tried a lot of potato salads in Kyoto, but the best for me is the potato salad at "Taroya."
The atmosphere inside the restaurant is also one of the charms of "Taroya". The food is presented in an obanzai style, so there is no formality like in a traditional Japanese restaurant, and you can enjoy delicious food and drinks in a relaxed atmosphere. There are no people there who seem to be dining together, and I think most of the people there are locals. A restaurant where I can enjoy carefully prepared delicious food while mingling with the locals is what makes it my favorite restaurant.
Taroya
Address: 473 Kannon-do-cho, Higashiiri, Shinmachi-dori Shijo-agaru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
TEL: 075-213-3987
Business hours: 17:00-23:00
Closed: Sundays
Instagram: @ taroya1992
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Suzuki Chikashi (Photographer)
Born in 1972. Moved to France in 1998. Started his career as a photographer at the magazine Purple.
He is a member of KANECHIKA gallery. He has worked on commercials for ISSEY MIYAKE, GUCCI, CHANEL, and JOHN LOBB, as well as magazines both in Japan and overseas. His major group exhibitions have been held at COLETTE (1998, Paris), MOCA (2001, Los Angeles), and HENRY ART GALLERY (2001, Washington). His major solo exhibitions include TREESARESOSPECIAL (2005, Tokyo), G/P GALLERY (2009, Tokyo), and Kosaku Kanechika (2018, 2019, 2020, Tokyo). His representative collections include "shapes
of blooming” (2005, TREESARESOSPECIAL), “Driving with Rinko Kikuchi” (2008, THE INTERNATIONAL), “CITE” (2009, G/P GALLERY, TREESARESOSPECIAL), “SAKURA!” (2014, LITTLE)
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Instagram: @chikashisuzuki1972
