Sola!! A new one star restaurant in Paris

I was thrilled when my friend Noriko suggested that we try one of the newly starred restaurants whose kitchens are headed by Japanese chefs. To start us off, I reserved at Sola. This is a beautiful restaurant that has both a French room

and a Japanese room with a comfortable recessed space for your legs, rather than a tatami mat at which you would have to kneel.

They are both beautiful and when you call, you must choose one of them.

Sola has a set menu. Lunch is 6 courses for 44 euros; dinner is 88 euros for ten. The dishes are so delicate and pure that ten would not be too many. We were there for lunch.

There is a short and nice wine list and also a good sake list. As we were in the Japanese room, I chose a very flavorful Dassai sake, recommended by our server.

A delicious creamy emulsion of panais (a root vegetable) with lobster was a wonderful way to start.

This was followed by a caramelized slice of foie gras served on a piece of toast. The silkiness of the foie gras was delicious against the sweet foil of its crust. It was garnished with a purée of baked apple and a bit of fresh chervil root.

Next came two warm seafood dishes: one with bulots, (periwinkles), fried garlic and parsley root, and the next with scallops, yuzu (like a lemon), gobo (an orange root vegetable), and potato served in a light broth (dashi). They were both light and flavorful. The chef is very proud to use fresh vegetables from Joel Thibault.

The main courses were an excellent turbot wrapped in Italian ham and garnished with ginger pearls, leek, fried leek root, and a ginger jelly:

and a lean slice of roast Iberico ham, peas, pea purée, baby asparagus, nasturtium, in a sauce lightly flavored with vinegar.

This was a perfect end to a sublime meal.

But of course, the meal was not over. The Japanese know their way around French desserts. We were lucky to be served a dish with vanilla ice cream, chocolate ganache, hazelnut meringues and caramelized hazelnuts, and a fabulous and delicate tuile with bits of bitter chocolate.

I left with the feeling that I would like to come again for dinner on a special occasion.

Sola obtained one Michelin star after being open just a year. It is a star well deserved. This is a place to remember.