【January】A "Salt-grilled Salmon Breakfast" to Usher in Rose-Colored Days

For my husband and me, the New Year begins with a breakfast set meal at Yayoi Ken.

 

The Italian bar we run as a couple is a cozy shop supported by a few regulars, but the Western-style Osechi New Year’s meals we started offering during the pandemic became very popular, and we work all through the end of the year to get them ready. Once the New Year is over, it’s time for the traditional New Year’s big cleaning of our house and the shop, and visiting each other’s parents. By the time we can catch our breath, the first three days are over, and the world has returned to everyday life. But while everyone else is going back to work, for us, New Years’ is finally about to begin.

 

After waking from an exhausted sleep, we cheerfully head to Yayoi Ken, carrying only our wallets.

We both invariably choose the Salt-grilled Salmon Breakfast. However, I add natto as an option and switch the rice to sticky barley. I love the way it pops in your mouth.

 

My husband adds a small dish of sukiyaki and a raw egg. Normally, I would stop him, saying it’s a bit too extravagant, but when he tells me that he loved eating sukiyaki with his family during New Year's as a child, I feel like letting him eat as much as he wants.

 

The breakfast set is a much better deal than eating at lunch. So many ways to customize it, and free rice refills, and the fact that still you get change back from a thousand-yen bill per person is unbelievable. Just as we are saying to each other, "We really need to learn from this spirit of service," the tamagoyaki arrives.

 

"When did you order that?" I ask in surprise, and my husband looks embarrassed.

"Well, you know, this year marks the shop's tenth anniversary. And we’ve been married for fifteen years, right? I just felt like splurging a little more than usual."

 

The table is full of small plates. Indeed, just looking at it makes me feel festive.

 

My husband split the rolled omelet placed in the center in half with his chopsticks. Although it is cooked through, the cross-section crumbles as if melting. When I cut it into a bite-sized piece and take a bite, it’s wonderful. It’s the sweetness of sugar, but it’s not just the taste of dashi either—it’s an exquisite sweetness.

 

"It's delicious."

"Yayoi Ken never fails you."

"We’ll have to do our best this year, too."

 

We will surely continue to grow old together like this, sharing delicious things. Imagining it gives me a ticklish feeling. The more of these moments we share, the more my life will turn the color of roses.

 

Once our stomachs are full, it’s time for hatsumoude, our first visit to a shrine for the year, at a shrine where plum blossoms are in full bloom. We pray for prosperity in business and the safety of our family, then head home. Prep work starts again tomorrow, and we will return to our daily routine.

 

But today, at least, is still a day off. Maybe I'll hold his hand while we walk, for the first time in a while.

 

Watching my husband shoveling rice into his mouth with a look of pure bliss, I hide a little scheme within my smile.

 

Text = Momo Tachibana   Illustration = Mog Hatakeyama