EGN NEWS DESK
As culinary hotspots go, few nations can compete with Japan. Travellers head right here not just for conventional fare, like sushi or okonomiyaki, however to see what distinctive spins native cooks have placed on different cuisines, with Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza and French high-quality eating among the many standouts.
It may be troublesome to make a reputation for your self on this panorama. Not so for Fauchon L’Hôtel Kyoto, which opened in 2021 within the Shimogyo Ward.
A Parisian import, the Fauchon model dates again to 1886 and is thought globally for its confectionary and tea blends. The resort in Kyoto – solely the corporate’s second – showcases these candy treats throughout its Salon de Thé and Pâtisserie & Boutique however really flexes its gastronomic muscular tissues at Grand Café Fauchon. Here, Chef de Cuisine Keiichiro Hayashi is on the helm of the culinary providing, which focuses on seasonal, native elements to create excellent French plates for resort company and out of doors guests alike.
On the resort’s prime ground, the restaurant seems to be out to Mount Higashiyama. While your eyes could also be drawn to the view, look up and also you’ll spot ‘champagne bubbles’ hovering overhead. The décor pays tribute to the perlage of the Italian glowing wine, however we’re gracing the halls of this restaurant for the sake pairing menu.
Both French and Japanese cuisines aren’t precisely identified for his or her vegetarian choices, in order a non-meat-eater, I felt an unsurprising sense of trepidation earlier than eating right here. We needn’t have anxious — fairly than seeing my dietary necessities as an inconvenience, Chef Hayashi seen creating the menu as a chance. In truth, following on from our go to, the vegan tasting menu has made its method into the restaurant’s everlasting providing.
The night started with an introduction to the 5 glasses of Tsuki no Katsura sake to be imbibed alongside the six-course menu. Fauchon L’Hôtel Kyoto has teamed up with the 350-year-old sake brewery in Fushimi, Kyoto, to supply company a brief – however memorable – method to familiarise themselves with the long-lasting beverage. The glasses run from dry to candy and embrace each filtered and unfiltered varieties, in addition to Junmai Nigori-Zake, referred to as the champagne of sake. We think about each connoisseurs, and laymen similar to ourselves, will study one thing over the course of the dinner.
Shortly after the sake is poured, our eating expertise begins with marinated melon with fennel and port wine. Served in a glass extra typically used for prawn cocktails, the dish is gentle and refreshing. Everything is fantastically plated, and the following course – a inexperienced vegetable desk – is a feast for the opposite senses, too, with the scent of mint and lemon zest hitting you as quickly because it touches down on the desk. The couscous is fluffy, whereas the greens retain their crunch.
The most stunning dish of the night is the avocado babloua and tomato coulis. The tartness of the coulis works extremely nicely with the creaminess of the avocado, and it’s a fairly distinctive spin on two elements which are sometimes paired collectively atop a slice of toast.
Moving away from French plates and into Japanese delicacies, the spring tempura is completely crisp whereas not dropping any of the recent flavours of the greens inside. It’s a masterclass in why Japanese tempura is vastly superior to different battered meals.
The ultimate savoury dish of the night comes within the type of a risotto with mushrooms and summer season truffles. While pleasant, we do want the chef had been a bit extra adventurous with the largest plate of the night, given risottos have been the star of vegetarian menus all over the world for greater than a decade now.
Dessert guarantees a strawberry tiramisu with caramel ice cream, and whereas it delivers on the latter, the previous is way out of your conventional Italian coffee pudding — it’s far creamier. We take pleasure in it nonetheless, however maybe a distinct identify must be given to the dish to keep away from the chance of disappointing tiramisu traditionalists.
In a rustic equally identified for its high quality fish as its cuts of premium meats, our night at Grand Café Fauchon proved that an important chef wants neither to impress. But in case you are on the town for recent fish or Omi beef, we think about no matter Chef Hayashi serves up will show to be an all-round incredible connoisseur expertise.
