Kyoto's vegetarian cuisine is called shojin ryori, a way of living that arrived together with Buddhism from the east. Its rules are more interesting than its flavours: not only plant ingredients, but knife work, plating and the order of service all follow fixed forms — a single meal is itself a practice.
Over five days we arrange four shojin meals, one wordless tea gathering, and a night in a small hermitage outside Kyoto. The wordless tea is the hardest part to describe: for one hour host and guests say nothing, and listen only to the water.
A curator from Taipei said afterwards: 'In that hour of wordless tea in Kyoto I finally understood the two words negative space.'
This journey is not a fast one, and it does not suit people who want to see a great many things. It suits people who want to stop, take a breath and recalibrate.
One warning: Japanese shojin ryori uses the five pungent vegetables — spring onion, garlic and chives among them — which makes it different from Chinese temple food. If you avoid alliums, tell us in advance and we can adjust. The hermitage accommodation is mostly shared tatami rooms, which will not suit everyone.