Light and clean

WITH the famed Tsukiji Market at his door step, it is surprising to hear Luca Fantin say that seafood is hard to source for in Tokyo.

The executive chef at Bulgari Il Ristorante Luca Fantin in Ginza says: "The fish in Tsukiji Market is good for sushi, but for my cooking, I need to go to the supplier."

And the process of getting the seafood that he wants is not merely a matter of going up to the supplier and getting them. He admits that as a foreign chef, Japanese suppliers are wary about selling their produce to him. "They worry that the working relationship may not last long, but I convince them that I'm serious about buying from them, by inviting them for dinner," he says.

Sometimes, getting suppliers to say yes involves going on fishing trips to see where the produce comes from. Chef Fantin rattles off a list of places he has been to: Oma on the northern most point of Honshu island has the best tuna; Mie prefecture is famed for its oysters and lobsters; while Hokkaido has quality s…