How about trying a top chef's new lunch creation and dessert in a historic Western-style building evoking the Taisho Romantic era?
North Corporation (President: Kitayasu Shin, Saitama City) offers two new menu items created by Chef Mitsumasa Kadohira at "ECCOLA Risona Koedo Terrace" on Kura no Machi Ichibangai. The lunch menu "Bushu Kawagoe Ju" features roast beef made from Bushu Wagyu, a local Saitama brand beef. The Bushu Wagyu roast beef emphasizes reduced fat content while focusing on the natural umami and tender texture of wagyu beef through carefully selected ingredients. This feast lunch aims to become a new specialty worthy of Kawagoe tourism. The dessert menu "Kawagoe Shippo Kame Gelato" is a new collaboration dessert between ECCOLA and Kameya, Kawagoe's premier long-established confectionery shop with over 240 years of history. The old confectionery's signature "Kame Dora" shell sandwiches seven types of gelato made with Saitama ingredients (treasures). Enjoy it with a warm beverage.
These two new menu items were created by Chef Mitsumasa Kadohira, executive chef of both "Azzurri KOEDO" and "ECCOLA Risona Koedo Terrace." Chef Kadohira won the Grand Prix at the 15th National Italian Cuisine Competition in 2024, organized by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan. The following year, in 2025, he won the Grand Prix at the 6th Premio ACCI Italian Cuisine Contest, organized by the Japan Association of Italian Cuisine. His dishes using local Saitama ingredients have received high praise at authoritative domestic Italian cuisine competitions. The chef's signature dishes, served in the historic Western-style building of the former Hachijugo Bank, a symbol of Kawagoe's Kura no Machi, promise to make your Kawagoe tourist cafe and lunch time truly special.
Exquisite Roast Beef Bowl Made with Rare Wagyu "Bushu Kawagoe Ju (¥3,180)"
"Bushu Kawagoe Ju" is Chef Mitsumasa Kadohira's signature work, showcasing his commitment to delicious local Saitama ingredients. The wagyu roast beef features carefully selected Bushu Wagyu, a local Saitama brand beef, specifically choosing rare cuts with an extended fattening period. Through innovative feeding methods, excessive fat is reduced while focusing on the inherent umami of beef. This breeding approach requires great courage in the meat market, where grades like A5, determined by fat content, often dictate prices. Chef Kadohira fell in love with both the producer's attitude and the meat's deliciousness. Be sure to experience the difference in tenderness and flavor. The exquisite sauce, utilizing the flavor of grape pressings from Chichibu's Usagi Winery, is a key taste element. The special rice, flavored with a small amount of butter, features Kawagoe's famous sweet potato. The finishing hot spring egg uses local brand "Sai-tamago." This new Kawagoe specialty, created by Chef Kadohira who knows Saitama ingredients inside out, brings Japanese-style jubako presentation through Italian culinary techniques. Combined with drink and dessert set menus, it promises a thoroughly satisfying lunch time.
Gelato Collaboration with Long-Established Confectionery Shop "Kawagoe Shippo Kame Gelato (¥660)"
"Kawagoe Shippo Kame Gelato" sandwiches seven diverse flavors of "SAITAMA GELATO" between shells from Kawagoe's long-established confectionery shop "Kameya's" "Kame Dora." This "SAITAMA GELATO," which won the grand prize at the 2022 Saitama Prefecture New Product AWARD, is one of "ECCOLA's" signature products. Each gelato flavor is filled with the passion of Saitama producers and Chef Kadohira. ①Kawagoe Sweet Potato & Mascarpone, ②Chocolate Beet, ③Sake Lees Cheesecake, ④Daichi Strawberry, ⑤Chestnut, ⑥Matcha, ⑦Gorgonzola & Honey. Why not find your favorite from these seven unique flavors? Each flavor has a story of encounters between Chef Kadohira and producers, such as sake lees from Kumagaya's Gonda Sake Brewery and "Daichi Strawberry" from Chichibu's Tadakane Farm. Limited to 20 per day, check for availability first when visiting Kawagoe. Incidentally, when Chef Kadohira was thinking about "Kawagoe-like menu items," he came up with this collaboration with "Kameya," Kawagoe's premier long-established confectionery shop. The fifth-generation "Kashichi" of this "Kameya" contributed to the establishment of Saitama Prefecture's first bank, "Dai Hachijugo Bank," and served as its first president. "ECCOLA's" location, "Risona Koedo Terrace," is the historic building of that former Dai Hachijugo Bank, revived as a hub for Kawagoe's revitalization. Through such connections, the collaboration between "Kameya" and "ECCOLA" came to fruition. This new dessert, born from Kawagoe's history, is definitely worth trying. Enjoy it with coffee, tea, or other warm beverages to fully savor this gelato's deliciousness.
"ECCOLA" Means "Found It! Found It!" in Italian
Upon entering "ECCOLA Risona Koedo Terrace," the shelves of Saitama specialty products catch your eye. ECCOLA gathers "good things" not just from Kawagoe, but from throughout Saitama Prefecture. "ECCOLA" means "found it! found it!" in Italian. After encountering deliciousness at the cafe, discover good things from specialty products throughout Saitama Prefecture. They provide encounters and discoveries that make you want to say "ECCOLA (found it! found it!)."
"Azzurri KOEDO" Offers Exquisite Italian Cuisine with Saitama Ingredients During Kawagoe Evenings
"Azzurri KOEDO" showcases Chef Mitsumasa Kadohira's true culinary prowess during dinner time. Kawagoe's "Kura no Machi" becomes surprisingly quiet after 6 PM, with foot traffic disappearing as if the daytime bustle were a lie. In the quiet, beautifully lit "Kura no Machi," "Azzurri KOEDO" serves Italian cuisine using Saitama Prefecture's finest ingredients, such as "Saitama Prefecture-grown European vegetables" and "Bushu Wagyu," with Chef Kadohira demonstrating his skills. Fusing local food culture with Italian cuisine is also an important theme at "Azzurri KOEDO." Ingredients from Chef Kadohira's hometown Chichibu, such as ayu (sweetfish) and deer meat, are elevated to ristorante dishes through Italian regional culinary techniques and sensibility. His passion for game is so strong that the chef himself holds a hunting license and hunts in his hometown Chichibu. As a culinary philosophy, he emphasizes "respecting Italian cuisine while utilizing local Saitama ingredients."
Experience Special Time in a Unique Space at Kawagoe's Historic Architecture
The unique space is also attractive. Utilizing the historic architecture of the former Hachijugo Bank, it provides dining experiences in special places. The former vault room features a wine cellar, with thick vault doors and a unique space where modern and retro brick construction coexist. The "Former President's Room" is available as a private room with mostly original opening-era heavy interior. It's popular not only for business entertainment and dinners but also for family memorial occasions like Shichi-Go-San (Seven-Five-Three Festival). A "Shichi-Go-San" plan collaborating with rickshaws is also available.
Chef Mitsumasa Kadohira's Commitment as Executive Chef of "Azzurri KOEDO" and "ECCOLA Risona Koedo Terrace"
Chef Mitsumasa Kadohira hails from Minano Town, Chichibu District. After training in Italy at a young age, he learned how to bring out the appeal of regional ingredients in inland areas similar to Saitama Prefecture's environment. Based on this experience, he provides Italian cuisine utilizing local Saitama ingredients. He won the Grand Prix at the 15th National Italian Cuisine Competition in 2024, organized by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan. The following year, in 2025, he won the Grand Prix at the 6th Premio ACCI Italian Cuisine Contest, organized by the Japan Association of Italian Cuisine. His dishes using local Saitama ingredients have received high praise at authoritative domestic Italian cuisine competitions. While demonstrating his skills as a chef at "Azzurri KOEDO," he also conceives and supervises all menus at "ECCOLA Risona Koedo Terrace" and supervises all gelato flavors. Chef Kadohira's commitment is to value connections with producers. Building good relationships with producers to select high-quality ingredients is natural. At one kabosu farm, when large quantities of non-standard kabosu remained, he processed and froze them for use as ingredients in gelato and homemade sauce "Kabosco," working with producers on food loss initiatives. Actively supporting producers' challenges is also Chef Kadohira's style. He incorporated "Kawagoe Caviar" into the menu to support Kawagoe's new brand ingredient. This comes from a Kawagoe pig farmer who has just started sturgeon farming and production. He also focuses on the brand ingredient "Bushu Unagi," promoted by Bushu Gas, a gas company founded in Kawagoe, through its land-based aquaculture business, noting its environmentally friendly farming methods under thorough water quality management. He provides dishes that bring out the appeal of fresh eel arriving within tens of minutes from its production site in Higashimatsuyama. As a culinary expert, he strives to introduce Saitama brand ingredients and enhance their brand value.
North Corporation https://north.co.jp/
