Pasta Bolognese, tofu curry, spicy chicken dishes… The chef rotates every day of the week, allowing visitors to enjoy homemade lunches made primarily with local ingredients.

This two-story wooden building, converted from a lumberyard in Mineyama-cho, Kyotango City, serves as a community center. It’s used for childcare support programs, dance classes, book events, and more—a place where diverse people gather and connect.

The building originally housed the “Tango Kurashi Tansukusha,” a general incorporated association responsible for relocation counseling in the city. With the goal of creating a space where all kinds of people could come together, members of the association and artists established an operating company and opened it as a community space five years ago.

Although they did not initially serve lunch, they began doing so the following year. Asako Kobayashi (43), a director of the association who also works in the kitchen, explains, “We wanted to offer home-style cooking in a restaurant setting. Our menu is based on seasonal and locally sourced ingredients. The kitchen is run by people who aspire to open their own restaurants in the future, as well as those who love cooking and interacting with others.”

The chefs, including Ms. Kobayashi, who is originally from Hokkaido, are all people who have relocated to Kyotango City. Shiho Hiraoka (51), who makes tofu from domestically grown soybeans in Yae-cho, says, “It’s fun to combine Kyotango vegetables with my own tofu.”

Chie Fujii (46), who moved to Kumihama Town from Osaka Prefecture the year before last, introduces her dishes with a smile, saying, “Centered around miso soup packed with ingredients, I make side dishes that go well with a hearty serving of rice.”

Koichi Oura (49), a new member who divides his time between Kyoto City and Kyotango, works at a post office in Kyotango City and serves his self-taught spicy curry once a month.

Mr. Kobayashi says enthusiastically, “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime lunch experience. We’ll also offer cakes and expand our café services to make this a place where people can drop by more casually.”

Copyright ©The Kyoto Shinbun

Translated by Kyotango City Tourism Association