Chef Antony Scholtmeyer, Culinary Director of Patina Osaka,
on his Seasonality, Sustainability and the Art of Mindful Dining
Antony Scholtmeyer, Culinary Director at Patina Osaka, brings 30+ years of global expertise and Michelin-starred experience from Capella Bangkok to his role. His career reflects a relentless pursuit of culinary excellence and sustainability, collaborating with local farmers to showcase seasonal ingredients.
Beginning his journey in his father’s restaurant, Antony’s passion led him across nine countries, enriching his European culinary style with diverse traditions. At Patina Osaka, he highlights Japan’s exceptional produce like shiitake through refined, simple preparations that honor natural flavors.
Inspired by Japan’s “72 Micro-Seasons,” P72 restaurant embodies nature’s rhythms. Chef Antony embraces farm-fresh mystery produce, believing in “eating what the earth provides.” His philosophy – combining seasonal simplicity with nourishing, memorable dishes – creates elegant dining experiences.
SpaChina interviewed him on P72’s herb garden terrace, reflecting this connection to nature.
Your career has spanned over three decades and across nine countries. How has this global journey influenced your approach to creating dishes that balance indulgence with health and wellness, especially at the restaurant P72 ?
My style of cooking has evolved over time through life experiences. What has influenced P72 the most is my upbringing in the countryside with a garden full of fresh herbs and vegetables. My mother was vegetarian and my father was a chef as well, so we were always eating healthy, freshly cooked good quality food. If you want to have a healthy sustainable diet, follow the seasons and use the ingredients when they are at their best.
P72 restaurant features a striking 52-meter-long art installation suspended mid-air, resembling “floating tree roots.” Simply contemplating this piece evokes inspiration to embrace nature’s wisdom. It symbolizes a return to origins – to the traditional ways people once sourced and savored food.
While supermarkets offer convenient access to mass-produced vegetables, the truest connection comes from visiting farms or rural markets. This philosophy reconnects us with agriculture’s essence, the rhythm of the seasons, and the purity of authentic flavor.
What inspired P72’s nature-blending, pet-inclusive design?
P72’s semi-open space harmoniously connects indoors and outdoors, adorned with living greenery and seasonal produce to create a therapeutic, nature-inspired ambiance. The Japanese-style garden integrates Chef Antony’s herb garden and uniquely welcomes pets – a rare luxury hotel feature.
Growing our own ingredients allows exclusive culinary experiences found only at Patina Osaka. We control quality, flavor, and authenticity, proudly offering unique dishes made with hyper-local or specially crafted components.
Beyond inclusivity, we’ve created a sanctuary where guests – with or without pets – feel embraced by nature. Every meal becomes a blissful experience infused with natural serenity.
At P72, nearly 70% of the menu is plant-based. How do you ensure these dishes are both nourishing and flavorful, while staying true to the restaurant’s focus on Japan’s “72 micro-seasons”?
We maintain close partnerships with local farmers across Japan’s Kansai region and nearby prefectures like Awaji Island. Each week, we receive a mystery box of seasonal produce – we never know what treasures it holds until opening it. This is the true essence of sustainable organic farming: we embrace whatever the land offers, then transform it into culinary artistry.
This approach is profoundly unique, starkly different from how most restaurants operate today, and it truly challenges our chefs’ skill and creativity. It harks back to the old ways of market shopping – selecting whatever looks freshest that day.
Ultimately, this is the purest form of sourcing and dining: not demanding farmers grow to our specifications, but rather honoring nature’s rhythm and the wisdom of local cultivation.
So it is very inspirational. For example, when the asparagus season began in early May, one of our farmers sent us his new season asparagus, we were the first to receive it, how great that was! It shows that our collaborating farmers have trust and faith in what we are doing, and provides us with a rich, sweet vegetable that you don’t need to do much with other than blanch or grill it and serve it naturally. Full of flavor, it doesn’t get any better than that! Seasonal ingredients are the essence of the 72 Micro-Seasons!
The restaurant repurposes orange peels for desserts like the citrus tart. How do such creative techniques align with Patina Osaka’s broader sustainability goals?
We try to reduce our waste as landfill is a major issue worldwide. I was given a statistic on how much landfill a hotel can produce in a day or week and it’s a problem that needs to be addressed, not only from a hotel’s perspective but also from that of a consumer.
We also repurpose tea leaves. We use the stems and leaves of turnips, pickle them and use them as a tasty garnish. It’s a topic that is easy to talk about but harder to take action on. It’s important to have sustainable metrics that are actionable and trackable so that we, as a hotel, can make a meaningful impact.
Modern diners increasingly seek “functional and mindful” cuisine – dishes that boost immunity, balance energy, or relieve stress. Do you incorporate these benefits when designing your menu?
We employ techniques like pickling, fermentation and dehydration to build nuanced natural flavors while enhancing nutritional value and natural enzymes. This approach also minimizes waste by transforming trimmings into flavor enhancers. Miso remains my cherished Japanese staple – its regional varieties across Japan offer endless possibilities. As an Australian chef, I bring a distinct perspective that allows me to reinterpret this ingredient creatively.
As a culinary destination, we craft balanced menus using fresh, unprocessed ingredients at their seasonal peak. This commitment to nature’s timetable creates inherently wholesome dining experiences designed for satisfaction without excess. Guests leave P72 feeling nourished, balanced and revitalized.
At Patina Osaka, we view food as profound nourishment for both body and soul. When nature’s bounty meets our serene ambiance and attentive service, every element becomes a luxury – the ingredients’ innate purity, the harmonious setting, the thoughtful hospitality. This is dining at its most beneficial and uplifting.
Could you share an example of adapting a classic recipe to enhance its health profile while preserving tradition?
Wellness cuisine isn’t revolutionary. The key lies in balanced compositions of vegetables, herbs, spices, and diverse proteins. My mantra is “freshness first” – overprocessing diminishes vitality. Why peel carrots when their skins contain nutrients? We maximize natural flavors through minimal intervention.
Take charcuterie – traditionally meats and pâtés. At P72, we reimagined it as “vegetable charcuterie,” applying protein techniques to produce. Through pickling, fermenting, and creating vegetable terrines, we’ve developed a signature concept rooted in tradition yet distinctly ours.
Japan’s exceptional produce continues to inspire me. When treated respectfully, ingredients reveal their true brilliance. Raised harvesting and cooking fresh ingredients, I’ve learned to enhance flavors naturally with spices, herbs, and honey. This creative process demands patience, but the reward – dishes that delight both palate and soul – makes every experiment worthwhile.
How do you maintain energy and creativity amid the demands of being a chef? Any non-negotiables in your daily routine?
Its important for me that my teammates are happy and energized to come to work. This is the best energizer I can have. We all feed off each other’s ideas, so we always have a constant flow of creativity and teamwork. I want them to be involved in their daily work to the extent that they feel great pride in serving to our guests a dish or menu that they have contributed to. This then frees me up to be more creative myself. We always talk about “One Team One Goal” so this is the non-negotiable, we have to work together as a team.