As a return gift for Ashiya City’s furusato nozei hometown tax donation program, we went to a tasting event for a luxury course meal at the Michelin-listed restaurant “芦屋フレンチ 北じま,” together with Fuuko from “Ashiya Tsushin,” the sister site of Nishinomiya Tsushin〜😋
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Ashiya City’s “furusato nozei” program has launched something amazing
Starting December 6, meal vouchers that can be used at restaurants in Ashiya City began being offered on Gurunavi’s shopping site “Gurusuguri” as return gifts for furusato nozei donations to Ashiya City〜!
Apparently, this is the first initiative of its kind among municipalities in Hyogo Prefecture〜😊
* Screenshot from Ashiya City product list | Online shopping, mail order, and sales [Gurusuguri]
↑ Eight restaurants in Ashiya City are participating, including restaurants listed in the famous “Michelin Guide,” and more participating restaurants are expected to be added going forward〜!
Exactly!! With furusato nozei, you can’t receive return gifts from the municipality where you live!! (We had mistakenly written that you couldn’t donate. Sorry about that.)
If anything, this is something we especially want to tell people living in Nishinomiya City about, loud and clear〜!
Report from the press conference and tasting event held at “芦屋フレンチ 北じま”
Believe it or not! We were invited to “芦屋フレンチ 北じま”, where a tasting event was held for dishes offered as furusato nozei return gifts〜!! So exciting〜💕
This is the venue, “芦屋フレンチ 北じま”〜!
It looks seriously upscale!! I’m nervous、、😮
There are so many reporters here!! Even TV stations are here!!
Excuse us for coming in〜 (timidly)
Before the tasting event, a press conference was held, with remarks from Ashiya Mayor Mai Ito and owner-chef Yasushi Kitajima〜💁
“芦屋フレンチ 北じま” is a renowned restaurant that was awarded one star in the “Michelin Guide Hyogo 2016 Special Edition”✨
Through the furusato nozei return gift, you can enjoy this gorgeous dinner course for a donation of 171,000 yen (tax included)!
At first I was shocked like, So expensive! 170,000 yen!? But since it’s a furusato nozei donation, depending on your deduction limit, you may be able to enjoy it for an actual cost of 2,000 yen〜!
This is the course menu for the return gift.
Even just reading the menu names makes it sound delicious、、😋
This time, we got to sample a few items from this menu!
What will they be like〜? I’m way too excited〜😆
The dishes we had at “芦屋フレンチ 北じま”
First dish
“Hokkaido Sea Urchin Flan”
“Terrarium of Kasumi Snow Crab and Fully Organic Vegetables from Tamba-Sasayama”
This is the sea urchin flan.
A flan is like a Western-style chawanmushi, but both the sea urchin and the flan were so rich and silky that you could barely tell where one ended and the other began〜😋
Snow crab〜🦀
It’s bite-sized, but packed with sweetness and umami〜!
It was an appetizer that looked as delicious as it tasted, with rare vegetables arranged like a terrarium!
This leaf looks like a Christmas tree, doesn’t it〜🎄 So cute〜😍
Second dish
“Our Specialty: Roasted Live Lobster”
Look at this〜! That big, plump lobster meat!!
It goes perfectly with the gratin-style sauce〜😋
The fun part after eating the big piece of meat💕
Digging out the remaining meat（笑）* This was the recommended way to eat it🙋
It’s the kind of thing that makes you get serious and go completely silent、、😂
Our sticky fingers were refreshed with a finger bowl😆
It was my first time using a finger bowl（笑）
Third dish
“Poele of Specially Selected Hokkaido Red Beef Fillet with Unama Binchotan Charcoal Aroma and Truffle Sauce”
So incredibly tender〜💕💕
Since it’s fillet, you can really savor the flavor of the beef! I wanted to take home just the truffle sauce、、🤤(*Not possible, haha)
The garnish vegetables weren’t just supporting players either!
Every one of them had a rich, full flavor〜😍
After the tasting, we got to peek into the kitchen!
It’s hard not to be drawn to Chef Kitajima looking so cool while cooking, but what really stood out was this incredibly well-organized kitchen〜🙋
Of course it was spotless, but it also felt like every single thing had its proper place! I need to learn from this at home too、、💪(As a housewife, this is the kind of thing I notice. haha)
Lastly, we were shown a “live lobster” before it was cooked, so here’s a video〜↓
* It’s a little sad, so if you’re not good with that, please turn back🙏
Fuuko from Ashiya Tsushin gets interviewed by Sun TV
Fuuko was interviewed for Sun TV’s program “NEWS×情報 キャッチ＋”! The broadcast has already ended, but it’s available on YouTube, so please check it out if you’d like〜!
You can also see a little bit of the tasting event〜💁
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Here’s Ashiya Tsushin’s article about the tasting event〜↓
