Food that Frees the Mind

I came back for lunch with a new vegan pal I met. Rainbow plates x2!

On my first night in Naha, I spontaneously went to a restaurant called Ryuness. After savoring my meal, I approached one of the owners for a chat.

She told me that she and her husband started the restaurant together about a year ago. He is a chef of Japanese and Italian food, while she is a psychotherapist by training. They wanted to integrate both of their skills to create food that is good for the mind, the body, and the earth.

I've heard many people talking about making food good for us and for the planet, but the idea of integrating psychotherapy into cooking was relatively new.

"How is psychotherapy integrated into cooking?" I asked.

"To create food that stimulates the senses and frees the mind," she responded.

Aha! That was exactly how I felt when I received my order, the rainbow plate. I couldn't help but look deeply into each component on the plate, taking in the aromas and observing the details before each bite.

Rainbow plate decorated with edible flowers

"How do you do that?" I followed up.

"I give him my image and he expresses it in his cooking."

Behind the self-service counter for complimentary soup and water, the couple worked together in the kitchen.

Customers could observe how their food is prepared in the open kitchen.

Due to the language barrier, our conversation unfolded with the help of translation apps on our phones. Not wanting to take up too much of their time during the busy dinner rush, I refrained from asking more in-depth questions. Although I would have liked to delve deeper, this limitation reminded me that sometimes, you only need to say very little to express what's most important.