Steps to freeing up space
Due to urban planning and building regulations, the uses that the renovated Hukuisu could be put to were limited. To resolve this issue, the Tainan Cultural Affairs Bureau began by revising local legislation. In 2014 it formulated rules for setting up review panels for commemorative buildings, and then drew up regulations for approving their renovation or reconstruction. Finally, the Hukuisu site was rezoned as “land for public education,” thereby loosening restrictions on building a new structure on land previously designated for a plaza.
Via this three-part solution—dubbed the “Hukuisu Provisions”—Hukuisu’s wooden-framed building was designated as Tainan’s first commemorative building in 2015. In 2016, the operating rights to the remains of the white structure located immediately opposite the entrance were obtained by A-Sha Restaurant, itself renowned throughout Taiwan as the dining venue “frequented by the most presidents.” Renovations began in 2017 and were completed in 2018. At a cost of NT$10 million, this structure was converted into a two-story building fusing the old and the new. It has been dubbed “Eagle Hill” by A-Sha’s head chef Wu Chien Hao, great-nephew of the restaurant’s founder.
For Wu, who grew up in a lane off Zhongyi Street, Hukuisu is an organic part of daily life. How to make this culinary brand shine once again and attract more people to take part in its revival has become a personal challenge.
In a tribute to Hukuisu’s eel donburi of yesteryear, Wu combines the restaurant’s signature sticky rice cake with specially prepared eel, and wraps it in shell ginger leaves to form a steamed fantuan (rice ball). From the 90-year-old Chinese chestnut tree in the courtyard garden he picks the fruit—“phoenix eyes”—to make seasonal chestnut glutinous rice cakes that are both mouthwatering and visually pleasing.
When it comes to the details of the refurbishment, Wu has endless tales to tell: at the first-floor entrance, the reception desk and floor feature traditional yagasuri patterns that evoke arrow feathers, while the avian-themed lighting fixtures on the second story and the bird shapes at the end of the sloping roof trusses are all modeled on the Japanese bush warbler (the name Hukuisu comes from uguisu, the bird’s Japanese name).
Eagle Hill evinces Hukuisu’s cross-cultural gourmet spirit and attracts visitors to venture inside its fusion of new and old. As they wander about, they can tour the Japanese-style courtyard and buildings, encounter musical performances and tea parties, nibble on chestnut cake, sip white wax-apple herb tea, sit under the veranda eaves listening to the patter of raindrops, or enjoy the lantern-lit courtyard at night. A new cultural bright spot in the city, the renovated Hukuisu brings Taiwan’s cultural history alive once again.
The wooden-framed edifice adjacent to Eagle Hill retains many aspects of the Japanese-style building’s original appearance, and also displays precious items that once adorned the old Hikuisu dining venue. (photo by Lin Min-hsuan)
Hikuisu’s Eagle Hill venue is operated by A-Sha Restaurant. The upper story is available for leisurely dining or organized events, says Wu Chien Hao.
Golden Yam Rice Brick: A rice cake made with red sweet potatoes, it won third place in a 2018 rice-based souvenir competition.
For Wu Chien Hao, recreating Hikuisu’s magnificent Japanese cuisine is not simply a business venture. It’s more about the nostalgia and romance of deciding “what we want to leave behind for future generations.” (courtesy of Eagle Hill)