NEW YORK—When Mihyun Han had the opportunity to realize her dream of opening a restaurant with her dear friend, top chef Yoshihiko Kousaka, she envisioned more than a place where people could find wonderful food. She wanted people to enter Kosaka and be surrounded by beauty.
The window displays at the 13th Street restaurant hold ceramic sake ware made by Japanese artisans. Every plate that food is served on, every bowl used, every sake cup was sourced by Han from artists she admires. Some are local artisans, and some are master craftsmen in Japan.
“A restaurant is not to just provide food,” Han said. “Even the plates, the sake ware, if they [the customers] can see something beautiful, it’s more of a treat.”
Gold-inlaid lacquerware artist Yoshinori Shibayama (Back C) with his class at the Japanese restaurant Kosaka in New York on Nov. 13, 2016. Benjamin Chasteen/Epoch Times
