A few months ago I published an essay entitled “An invasion of Japanese chefs and cooking” where I talked about the number of straight French, French-Japanese fusion and straight Japanese restaurants opening in Paris. Since April 17th, three more Japanese chefs have opened places or been placed in established places.
First was Yuzu where M. Nao who worked at Bizan (thus classic) provided us with an out-of-classification miso soup, a wonderful salady thing like one gets in a ryokan in Kyoto, tempura with a batter so light you didn’t worry about the calories and sashimi cut so thick it’s taste was totally different from that in other French or American restaurants.
Then I encountered another Japanese chef at Chez La Vielle (Adrienne) in the 1st. Here we started with an amuse bouche of a fluffed soupie thing of melon with a light marshmallow type square and moved on to classic dishes: pressed beef tongue and sweetbreads with mushrooms, a piece of St Pierre with a spiky batter on a white creamy sauce and sliced duck with artichokes.
Finally I ate at Le Clarisse which had a striving but not succeeding reputation 4 years ago; here the new chef (a M. Sadaki, all these new guys seem to have one name like Madonna or Bono) regaled us with an ethereal amuse bouche, a cold soup of petit pois with a scoop of foie gras, which tasted like something as far away from liver as the moon, a coarsely cut tartare of salmon whose cut allowed the essence of the fish to flood your palate, a daurade with veggies that was very, very good, and quite classically French but my sausage-like wrap of Bresse chicken with apricots was one of the most inventive and best uses of chicken ever.
First was Yuzu where M. Nao who worked at Bizan (thus classic) provided us with an out-of-classification miso soup, a wonderful salady thing like one gets in a ryokan in Kyoto, tempura with a batter so light you didn’t worry about the calories and sashimi cut so thick it’s taste was totally different from that in other French or American restaurants.
Then I encountered another Japanese chef at Chez La Vielle (Adrienne) in the 1st. Here we started with an amuse bouche of a fluffed soupie thing of melon with a light marshmallow type square and moved on to classic dishes: pressed beef tongue and sweetbreads with mushrooms, a piece of St Pierre with a spiky batter on a white creamy sauce and sliced duck with artichokes.
Finally I ate at Le Clarisse which had a striving but not succeeding reputation 4 years ago; here the new chef (a M. Sadaki, all these new guys seem to have one name like Madonna or Bono) regaled us with an ethereal amuse bouche, a cold soup of petit pois with a scoop of foie gras, which tasted like something as far away from liver as the moon, a coarsely cut tartare of salmon whose cut allowed the essence of the fish to flood your palate, a daurade with veggies that was very, very good, and quite classically French but my sausage-like wrap of Bresse chicken with apricots was one of the most inventive and best uses of chicken ever.
Places where they have arrived:
Yuzu
33 Rue Bellechasse in the 7th (Metro: Solferino)
T: 01.47.05.28.84
Lunch: 40-50 E
Chez La Vielle (Adrienne)
1, rue Bailleul in the 1st (Metro: Louvre-Rivoli)
T: 01.42.60.15.78
Closed Saturday lunch and Sundays
3-course lunch formula 38 E, a la carte 55-75 E.
Le Clarisse
29, rue Surcouf in the 7th (Metro: Invalides)
T: 01.45.50.11.10
Open 7/7
Lunch menu – 35 E, a la carte 60-70 E.
Yuzu
33 Rue Bellechasse in the 7th (Metro: Solferino)
T: 01.47.05.28.84
Lunch: 40-50 E
Chez La Vielle (Adrienne)
1, rue Bailleul in the 1st (Metro: Louvre-Rivoli)
T: 01.42.60.15.78
Closed Saturday lunch and Sundays
3-course lunch formula 38 E, a la carte 55-75 E.
Le Clarisse
29, rue Surcouf in the 7th (Metro: Invalides)
T: 01.45.50.11.10
Open 7/7
Lunch menu – 35 E, a la carte 60-70 E.
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