Chef Kenjiro “Hatch” Hashida / A Decadent Gallery

“I had wanted to be a painter when I was younger. With Hashida Garo, you could say it’s a combination of everything I love – at the moment, all the paintings you see plastered on the walls were done by yours truly. In the near future, however, I would like Hashida Garo to be a platform for other up-and-coming artists to showcase their artwork.

Even though Hashida Garo specialises in traditional Japanese desserts, each creation has a uniquely Singaporean twist. One example is the popular Merlion Monaka, which we created to celebrate Singapore’s 50th birthday. The filling is made with house-made kaya, white bean paste, and chocolate paste, which is then sandwiched between two mochi wafers that take the shape of the country’s national icon.
For this six-piece New Year dessert dish (pictured above), some of the ingredients used are locally sourced, such as the yam we used in joyo manju (steamed cake with red bean paste filling). Two of the wagashi in this dish sport red and white colours, which are the festive colours for the Japanese New Year; of the two, the wagashi with a red mark at the top represents a red-crested white crane, which is an emblem of longevity. The green, brown, and red wagashi were inspired by the Three Friends of Winter, or , which literally translates to pine, bamboo, and plum. These plants do not wither in winter, and are symbols of unwavering resilience.”

(Text Tan Lili Photography Raymond Toh/Vineyard Production)