There's not much to add to my write-up of the most aptly named Les Chanterelles — my latest column in The Japan Times — except to reiterate: now Chef Nakada has his own place and is finally free of the limitations involved in working for someone else (as he was at L'Artémis), he is stretching his wings and his cooking is really taking flight.
Here's an illustrated run-down of our dinner there last month (plus a few images from one of the great-value weekend lunches), shortly after Nakada launched his mushroom-centric autumn menu.
Even though he would like to be incorporating local mushrooms in his cuisine — there are so many wonderful kinoko here in Japan — he has ruled that out, due to concern about levels of radioactivity even in fungi sourced from the other end of the country. That is why he is only serving imported mushrooms. [Thanks for raising this issue in your comment, Gio.]
A couple of glasses of bubbly to go with the opening nibbles. Which were a light, creamy paté and a couple of one-bite mushroom-filled croque-monsieurs.
The first course: girolles, lightly sautéed with kuruma-ebi prawns and served on a thick,creamy sauce deeply infused with the heady aroma from a mixture of mushrooms. Nakada doesn't use much dairy produce in his food — but when he does, it's outstanding.
Alongside this, he served the legs and heads of the prawns, deep-fried crunchy — a tasty touch of the kind you'd expect at a high-end tempura restaurant.
Second hors d'oeuvres: Sazae (aka turban shells), with a texture halfway between abalone and escargot, sauteed and dressed with a sauce made from their black, bitter livers, and topped with shards of black truffle. This came with a small side salad and a crisp flaky pastry (of the type known in Japanese as "pie").
Carpaccio of kamasu (small baracuda), served with slices of beautiful green zebra tomatoes, Kyoto mizuna and chrysanthemum petals, scattered with powdered truffle, and seasoned not with oil and vinegar but just tomato juice freshly squeezed and strained so finely it barely has any colour.
Pan-fried foie gras: encased in a crisp layer of almond and fine panko breadcrumbs, it was served on a mound of soft-cooked beans, with a small side salad (with truffle), and a scoop of sweet-savory fig chutney and a dab of creamed silver onion. Wonderful!
Nagada's signature hors d’oeuvres is his classic pairing of salmon and egg. This is a dish he served throughout his time at L'Artémis — I first ate it (and raved about it) seven years ago — but it's even better now. To quote myself...
"The fish (Tasmanian) is marinated and lightly smoked, just enough to deepen the umami savor without overpowering its inherent flavor, then topped with sour cream and a delicate dressing of minced shallots and fresh tomato. On one side he places a perfectly cooked onsen-tamago (lightly poached egg) covered with slices of black truffle; on the other, a small seasonal “salad,” such as bulgur topped with green soybeans, garnished with chrysanthemum petals and yet more truffle.
Joue de boeuf (ox cheek), long simmered till meltingly tender in a red wine jus infused with black pepper and juniper, with a generous serving of deep-fried chanterelles on the side.
Quail stuffed with wild rice and minced mushrooms, wrapped in bacon and oven-baked, accompanied by half a matsutake, soft-cooked small sato-imo taro yams, a light onion puree, a couple of raisins, and one of the richest gravies we’ve had in a long while.
Here's a close-up of what it looked like dissected...
Dessert 1: chocolate terrine with cassis sorbet
Dessert 2: wine-simmered fig served in Champagne granité.
Again: this really is my sort of place. Simple but stylish, relaxed but worth dressing up for; well away from the bright lights of central Tokyo, but far above the standard of the average "neighbourhood" joint; and full-on restaurant cuisine with subtlety and finesse — make no mistake, this is not bistro cuisine.
Highly recommended if you live (or intend to be) anywhere on the Yoyogi side of the city.
Here's a map link...
And here is the Les Chanterelles home page...
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