A new one-star French restaurant entirely run by Japanese
A friend of mine told me of a new one-star restaurant run by Japanese people. It is called Passage 53 and is just two years old. Since the Japanese are very creative and interested in fine cooking, I couldn't wait to go.
This is another of the small places (22 seats) where there is no menu but a surprise tasting for everyone. There are both a French and a Japanese maitre d'hotel--both of whom are knowledgeable and helpful.
The meal consisted of a parade of small plates, each lovingly prepared and delicious. The first two seemed to be riffs on color. I started with an all-white dish: lightly grilled squid resting on a purée of cauliflower and topped with cauliflower shavings. The purée was made with a very flavorful olive oil and the dish (which sounds bland) was quite stunning. Next came the orange dish which was a sea urchin foam, a piece of sea urchin and a carrot flan: also wonderful.
After that, what came on the plates was more colorful and complex. There was a marlin with a variety of seasonal vegetables beautifully placed on the dish; an amazing sautéed foie gras with salty shellfish juice flavored with yuzu: such a strange combination that worked very well. After that came a baked Cévennes onion which had been taken apart and layered with spicy chorizo and then put back together. Superb! The meat dishes were a very tender roast veal and a wonderful poularde with lots of white truffles and a puree potatoes. This was spectacular!!
The dessert course should have been called "everything you dreamed of ordering but were too afraid to ask". There was a terrific lemon mousse with meringue and crunchy lemon caviar, a wonderful tiramisu, chestnut cake with banana ice cream, mont blanc, a clementine sorbet flavored with green tea and the best chocolate tart I have tasted in many years. I saved that to have with my coffee .
The wine list here is quite extensive but if you just want glasses of wine you can have a Meursault (an reknowned producer of Meursault) with the first courses and an excellet Vosne-Romanée from Arnoux-Lachaux.
Like Le Bigarrade and Sa Qua Na, this restaurant is not cheap but would be a wonderful place for a special occasion.
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