Sushi Shunei, nigiri with majesty
Away from the hustle and bustle of the abbeys, in an alley, a door opens to another world. A graphic and delicate piece that captures the aesthetic codes of Japanese tables, with the counter as its focal point. Nine guests are accommodated in a monastic atmosphere. All eyes are on Shunei Kimura, a precise and concentrated itama that passes by Japan’s most famous sushi restaurants. It’s 7 p.m., the ceremony begins with green tea (gyokuro) extended with sparkling water, the first step in a bold food-tea-sake pairing. A trifecta of tartares and sashimi, grilled rice and hawaiian rice (pork, squash, bottarga) set the pace for this gastronomic ballet ahead of the long-awaited nigiri festival. Then a parade through Tokyo on a black lacquered coaster, from the best to the strongest; bream, amberjack, cuttlefish, shrimp, salmon roe, red tuna, semi-fatty tuna (chutoro), fatty tuna (otoro), grilled fatty tuna, mackerel. , sardine and eel served over hot Niigata rice and covered in soy sauce. Miso soup with shrimp dashi refreshes the palate, before Alain Ducasse’s factory hazelnut-hojicha sorbet. A flawless symphony with service as discreet as it is refined.
Sushi Shunei, 3, rue Audran, Paris 18e. Such. 06 44 66 11 31. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 7pm or 9.30pm, by appointment only. Omakase menu: €180 per person, Nigiri menu: €120.
[Depuis notre visite chez Sushi Shunei, le chef Shunei Kimura est décédé. Nous envoyons toutes nos condoléances à sa famille et à ses proches dans cette épreuve douloureuse.]
Ogata, the art of tea
If lovers of Japanese aesthetics had a temple in Paris, it would be Ogata. Both boutique, patisserie and newly-starred restaurant, this intimate and elegant Marais address has launched a new tea ceremony this spring. A real meal in fact, over two hours and over a variety of drinks. After a mandatory wash, he enters a large room in the basement by candlelight. Waiting for us is the tea master who looks like a shy lab. In the silence broken only by the singing of the copper pan, the teas follow one another, sometimes herbal, sometimes smoked and grilled, accompanied by various delicacies: pigeon sancho pepper, veal tataki or a low-temperature boiled and fermented egg. miso Tea leaves are scattered here and there on the plate, steamed and then arranged in a salad. For dessert, the pastry chef invites himself in front of the guests to model quinto, a kind of ball of red bean paste whose sweetness cancels out the bitterness of the accompanying matcha. Suspended moment.
Ogata, 16, Rue Debelleyme, Paris 3e. Two Sundays a month, with groups of up to eight people. From 12 to 13:30 and from 16 to 17:30. 200 euros per person. Other formulas around 60 to 70 € for tea. Such. 01 80 97 76 80. To register: reservation@ogata.com
Kei when Japan fell in love with France
Kei Kobayashi is the most Francophile of Japanese chefs. Falling in love with our gastronomy at the age of fifteen, he left his hometown of Nagano in northern Japan to join the kitchens of Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée. Nearly twenty years later, here’s our oxidized Nippon at the helm of his own restaurant, Kei, three stars as of 2020. What do we taste there? Products from there, shiso and wagyu beef, are twisted in the style of French grand gastronomy and served in a white and light gray room, the colors of the house of Dior. So classy! Its signature dish is a salad. Yes, but what a salad. Twenty-four ingredients were revealed beneath white foam and a few flowers. Elegant without being snobbish, Kei’s cuisine is surprisingly easy to access, as is its price (lunch menu €85). Perhaps the most difficult thing is to get a table. must be ordered two months in advance.
Kei, 5, rue Coq-Héron 75001: Lunch menu for €85 (except Saturdays). Tasting menu: €170, Prestige: €240, Horizon: €340.
Toraya: Imperial Pastry
It’s been forty years since the House of Toraya settled in Paris, in a zen environment of blonde wood, a few meters from rue Saint-Honoré. But you have to go back five centuries to see its history. During the reign of Emperor Goyose (1586-1611), pastries became the official supplier of the imperial court. His specialty is wagashi, a traditional Japanese pastry, as opposed to yogashi, a Western pastry. Made from rice and wheat flour, adzuki beans and agar-agar, they are available here as namagashi (fresh seasonal cakes), monakai (rice flour wafers), dorayaki (thick filled pancakes) and crushed ice served as bamboo garnishes on trays. Make no mistake, these sweets express the full Japanese sensitivity to beauty, the fragility of nature, and the changing of the seasons. On the day of our visit, among the four ephemeral namagashi (a new menu every two weeks), the delicate riverside Fireflies, made with white azuki and green tea, stood out from the crowd. Served with sparkling matcha made to the rules of the art (hot or iced), it is an ode to poetry in itself.
Toraya, 10, rue Saint-Florentin, Paris 1eh. Such. 01 42 60 13 00. Open Monday to Saturday 11am to 6.30pm, bookings recommended. Organic matcha €7.50, option to have an ice version €8, wagashi €6.30 and crushed ice €6.80.
Source: Le Figaro
