FOOD PROFILE Kogetsu at Noone Falls • Peterborough, New Hampshire

Jimmy Tan, the heart and hands behind Kogetsu Boiler House at Noone Falls in Peterborough, N.H., ventures out before dawn — often between 3 and 5 a.m. — to Boston's bustling seafood markets. He combs through the day's catch, hand-picking only the best, ensuring every plate at his restaurant tells a story of freshness and care. The freshness of food is key to its taste, more so than the way it is prepared, he says. &emsp;Kogetsu's menu is a passport to Asia: Chinese classics, vibrant Malaysian fare (a tapestry of cultures, Tan notes), aromatic Indian curries and Japanese delicacies, with sushi as the centerpiece. &emsp;The focus on food rather than cocktails fits with Tan's plan to be a family restaurant, where adults may choose to have a drink with their meal. He emphasizes that it is not a place for anyone interested in drinking to excess. &emsp;At Kogetsu, your meal might start with scallion pancakes, crab Rangoon, curry chicken puffs, a pupu platter for two or three, vegetable tempura, spicy dumplings with peanut sauce or many other choices. &emsp;Available soups include chicken noodle or rice, wonton, Thai spicy tom yam, egg drop, miso, and more. Some salad options include seaweed salad, kani salad or tataki salad. &emsp;Every dish is made to order, with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available upon request. &emsp;The entrée selection is a kaleidoscope of flavors — too numerous to list, but here are a few standouts. Tan says 99 percent of the menu is always available. - Vegetable dishes include broccoli or eggplant with garlic sauce, tofu with vegetables and silk noodles, sautéed mustard greens with bai choy or Chinese broccoli, or General Tso's tofu, among others. - Steamed dishes range from items like chicken, beef or shrimp with vegetables to steamed vegetables or seafood delight. - Duck lovers have plenty of options: including Beijing, basil, Hawaiian, and savory black bean sauce versions. - Traditionalists can savor chicken and beef favorites — Happy Family, ginger chicken, and a rainbow of curries (massaman, yellow, green, penang), plus noodles and stir-fries like lo mein, fried rice, Indian mee goreng, pad thai and yaki udon. - Chinese and Japanese lunch specials are offered, along with some dinner combos. &emsp;Then there's the sushi, made with the freshest ingredients he can obtain. In his kitchen, where 95 percent of the food is made from scratch, these are prepared and served, arranged in gorgeous presentations. &emsp;"It takes seven to eight years of preparing sushi to become a master," Tan says. &emsp;Running a restaurant is no easy feat. Tan and his team work marathon shifts — especially during December, when others close up shop. On New Year's Eve alone, more than 2,000 orders of crab Rangoon and beef teriyaki fly out the door, a testament to Kogetsu's loyal following. &emsp;"During the holiday week between Christmas and New Year's, my employees work 12- to 14-hour days," he says. Some teammates have been at Tan's side for a decade or more — one even for 23 years — outlasting the restaurant's 17-year residence in Peterborough. &emsp;Staff members get a holiday for Chinese New Year, when the restaurant closes for two or three days, allowing them to visit family, many of whom live in New York City. &emsp;Tan's culinary journey began at age 13, when he began cooking with his parents, and in 2003, he managed Lee and Mt. Fuji at Colony Mill. The Lee and Mt. Fuji restaurant at the Boiler House opened in 2007 and continued through 2015, when it became Kogetsu at the Boiler House/Noone Falls, which continues there today. &emsp;Unlike many restaurants negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kogetsu's business grew. Their takeout food was available to people isolated during the shutdown. They also helped by donating many masks to Peterborough's Monadnock Community Hospital and Greenfield, N.H.'s Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center. &emsp;Many of Kogetsu's customers are regulars who come in at least once a week. When seated at tables along the large windows or in warm weather on an outside deck, customers are treated to a close-up view of Noone Falls. This is a great feature, but people don't know it's there until they come in, Tan says. &emsp;It's not always easy, Tan admits, running a restaurant off the beaten path. Visibility is a challenge, and passing drivers between Peterborough and Jaffrey may miss the magic within these walls. &emsp;Still, word of mouth carries far. Diners from local retirement communities — and many who once called New York City home — find comfort and delight in Kogetsu's offerings. &emsp;Receiving compliments on the food is one of his best rewards, Tan says. This authentic feedback, he says, is better than winning any awards or accolades.