Asian Fusion Restaurant, “ONEONE”

By Tomomi Fujino  

It is a graceful afternoon. Some relaxing music is playing, and the soft sunshine comes from the windows. Wooden table and colorful Asian cloth create an exotic space in the restaurant. World authentical cooking books, African photograph books, and picture books are in the large bookshelf. Among them, books about Indian dishes are a lot there.

“Irassyaimase,” greets Ms. Chika Kawazoe warmly, owner of the restaurant.

Two middle-aged women sit the windows side sofa, and they are talking to each other while having the daily special.

Asian fusion restaurant, “ONEONE” is located in the center of Kochi City. This restaurant is serving meat-free Asian fusion dishes and pastries which are changing a little bit every week. Owner, Kawazoe doesn’t use ingredients which contain artificial additives as much as possible.

“I began to manage the meat-free style restaurant by the trigger of visiting south India. Then, I came to contact with vegan and vegetarian culture and got interested in that. After I came back to Japan, decided to open my restaurant in Kochi.” she said.

There is a name board written “ONEONE” in Hiragana letter on the wooden board. It gives a soft impression on the restaurant.

“Restaurant name, ONEONE comes from the Maori language in New Zealand that means “soil” in English. It might sound like Japanese because the Maori language has strong vowels.

Once Ms. Kawazoe lived in New Zealand for a year on a working holiday. At that time, she had the opportunity to get a Maori dictionary. She looked up the word ONEONE, and liked the word right away. As a result of that, she named her restaurant “ONEONE.”

More and more people change their diet style, which is not eating animal food or choosing organic vegetables. These days, Vegetarian and Vegan diets are receiving a lot of attention and becoming popular around the world. The reason they started meat-free life might be different by the person; they have clear policies and thought. Some started that to control their health conditions, Others began it by some ethic belief or their values.

This Restaurant, “ONEONE” has several policies in that the owner, Ms. Kawazoe cooks and manages.

One of the policies is that Ms. Kawazoe uses natural ingredients so that customers can enjoy the natural flavor of ingredients. Additionally, she doesn’t use ingredients which are contained artificial additives as much as possible. Furthermore, using whole food is one of her policies. When she makes “Kinpira”, she uses carrots with the skin.

The other point is using fresh, local vegetables. These vegetables are safer and more reliable. Generally, these contain a variety of nutrition. It could be a great tip of popularity.

Finally, the interior of “ONEONE” has a good influence on the customer’s feelings. It arranges natural materials and simple design furniture which make people relaxed and comfortable. Some customers would want to stay for a long time after they finished having lunch. This is the place people can take a break from the busy life and deep Calmness.

“I got the novelty goods like colorful cloth in Thailand.” and she added, “Asian countries’ dishes are quite attractive.” that’s why ONEONE tastes exotic.

Red, green, yellow, orange, the lunch plate looks pretty colorful and literally, healthy. Some vegetable dishes seasoned with spice, brown rice and croquettes are on the big round plate separately, and pure taste soup followed the plate. Picking up a piece of cabbage from the soup, and having it, naturally sweet taste spread out in the mouth since the soup doesn’t contain too much seasoning. It brings out the full flavor of the ingredient.

Ms. Kawazoe cooks dishes, combining seasonings or some spices. She makes original dishes by her creativity and experience.

Ms. Kawazoe has managed this restaurant for four years. The number of customers has gone up gradually. The central concept of ONEONE is providing Kochi residents the opportunity to touch something truly natural. It is not only food but atmosphere like wooden furniture and soft music.

“I make something healthy, close to nature. I hope the customers to be able to taste natural ingredients.”

ONEONE gives us a great time to touch the value of natural and simple life.

Location: Imai second building 1F, 3-2 

Eikokujicho, Kochi City 

TEL: 088-879-9486 

Shop holiday: Monday  

Open hours: 11:00-15:00