Akiya Ishibashi tills the field, harvests the grain, kneads the buckwheat. The chef’s passion for soba permeates a menu consisting purely of soba and soba mash. ‘Think of it as cereal’, he says of his dishes rich in rustic goodness. Soba is deliciously fragrant, thick-cut and al dente. Soba mash, served with roasted buckwheat grains, is delightfully pungent. To enjoy the pure flavour of Ishibashi’s soba, try it first on its own, without seasoning.