February 28, 2009
Ebisu Garden Palace, Tokyo
Snowy, Rainy and Cold
For Dima's goodbye gift, I decided to take her out to lunch a Joel Robuchon at Tokyo. Its a Michelin 3 star restaurant and has been on my top 10 restaurants to go to for Tokyo since my friend Bill took me to the L'Atelier and tried to get us in the main restaurant with no luck. Therefore, I was very lucky to get a lunch reservation. There was a slight complication though due to my Japanese. I made the reservation for 130pm but the reservation lady thought I said 1130am. However, everything was OK and the service and attention was impeccable!
A bit about Joel Robuchon. He was named "Chef of the Century" a few years back and is known for his relentless quest for perfection. I can see why the Japanese appreciate his cuisine as he is a master in arousing the different tastes in every dish.
Joel Robuchon in Tokyo is located in Ebisu Garden Palace in a traditional French Villa. I personally was turned off by the building as it really does not fit in Tokyo but the interior is gorgeous. It houses several of his restaurants including his boutique. There is a casual cafe, the L'Atelier, La Table - which is a bit more formal and the Restaurant which was awarded three Michelin stars. We went to the Restaurant where we had the most incredible gastronomic experience.
Since Dima does not eat meat, they prepared a special seafood menu for us. The attention and service was impeccable. In the middle of the restaurant is a grand Baccarat chandelier. The walls are decorated a pale yellow lined with swarovski crystal.
As our custom, we started with a glass of champagne. We enjoyed it with our Amuse-Bouche which was a soup of strawberry served with topping made of cheese and cream. It was refreshing and went well with the champagne.
For our lunch I ordered a bottle of Alsatian wine as Dima has never tried it before. I chose an Alsace Pinot Gris - 2005 Domaine Ostertag Grand Cru. It was nice and light and went very well with our sophisticated food. I think if you have a big, powerful wine with Joel Robuchon's cuisine, you will not be able to enjoy the delicate tastes that come with each dish.
Our first course was La Noix de Saint-Jacques. A scallop carpaccio flavored with Yuzu and Blue Poppy Seeds. It was a very delicate and beautiful dish.
Our second course was Le Homard Breton. It was lobster from Brittany served on the best risotto I've ever had. The risotto consisted not only of rice but also a small pearl pasta and was flavored with saffron and espelette pepper. Espelette pepper is a French red pepper that is milder than paprika. While thoroughly enjoying the risotto, Arn our maitre-d came with the bread selection. The bread selection was mind bogling. So much to choose from! I had the basil bread, olive bread, tomato bread and anchovy bread. It was served was delicious olive oil but also butter. We enjoyed the bread but both of us really loved the risotto. I have got to figure out how to make this. It was incredible.
Our third course was La Daurade. We had a perfectly roasted sea bream with a citrus, leek and lemon grass sauce. The smell of the dish was exciting. It was the perfect fish dish. Again the flavors were very delicate and with one bite, one can taste the lemon grass, yuzu, fish and the leek. It was a perfect combination.
Our fourth course was Le Saumon. This course was the "richest" in that the salmon from Tasmania was gently cooked in a confit of caramelized onions and served with a rich red wine sauce. It aroused different taste buds from the sea bream and was another perfect seafood dish.
Both Dima and I were very happy with our lunch and were getting full when our first dessert arrived! Actually, it was an Avant Dessert so was a dish to tease us until the "real dessert" was served. In a little glass came a tablespoonful of peanut ice cream with nuts and chocolate. Sounds simple but was one of the best ice cream desserts I've ever had. Dima said that she could eat a bucketful and I whole heartedly agreed!
Arn then asked us if we would like coffee or tea. I asked for herbal tea and Arn highly recommended their fresh mint tea. Its made of 4 different types of mint and has verbana and a touch of lemon grass. After hearing him describe it, Dima decided to have that tea also. We got into a lively discussion with Arn and he taught us how to make the tea. I did not know this but the secret to making good mint tea is to boil the water with the mint in it. Dima knew about this but this was something I did not know. No wonder my mint tea was always weak!
The tea was served with French Lavender Honey and a Pistachio mouse with cherries!
Then it was time for our grand finale - La Poire. Our final dish - the Dessert. It was a delicate cheese cake subtly flavored with yuzu and served with a pear flavored caramel sauce and tiny cookies. Delicious! While we were thoroughly enjoying the dish, Arn had the director of cuisine come by to say hi to us. His name is Alain Verzeroli and is a chef rock star as he has 3 Michelin stars . AND he is CUTE!!
Two and half hours later after thoroughly enjoying our food, it was time to go. Arn was so sweet to us that he gave each of us a gift - orange brioche from Joel Robuchon Boutique and walked us out and hailed a cab for us. Now that is service! I am definitely going to have to come back!
I hope it was a memorable lunch for Dima as its her last week in Tokyo. I find it just amazing that you can get the world's best French cuisine in Tokyo. I'm going to miss these lunches with Dima but also vey happy for her as she is going home back to the States!
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