Over a 6-week period ahead of my column coming out, we ate at L'As three times in close succession. Each meal was almost entirely different. Here are some of the highlights from the first of those meals — the one that convinced me that here was a restaurant that was not just great but outstanding.
Starting with the home-made mozzarella. Just two little blobs, an amuse bouche, but so so fresh and creamy and flavourful. We could tell: here's a chef who is plenty creative in his kitchen.
Next the asparagus, packed full of umami from the strained green tomato juice it was cooked in, and arranged with garden herbs (basil, wild cress, chickweed) and petals (heartsease).
Then a deep rich bisque, served with an aromatic sprinkle reminiscent of ras al hanout, and crisp croutons made from baguettes fine-sliced lengthways.
The fish course: salmon with fresh-season broad beans and garden peas, and scattered with shiso sprouts.
So good it deserves a close-up...
And as the meat course, a roulade of rabbit on mushrooms in a dense red wine jus.
Pre-dessert: tomatoes of three different hues, blanched and peeled and served in a basil-infused liquor. Add a few drops of extra-virgin oil and you have a delectable sweet-tart palate-priming drinkable salad...
Then the main dessert, nothing too heavy or overly-sweet...
Under the crisp nutty "brandysnap" was honeycomb encased in dark chocolate. Wicked.
To round off the meal, a lovely digestif of honey-sweet Pineau de Charentes.
Even the tea at the end was just right: instead of just dunking a teabag in hot water and hoping for the best, we noticed they timed the infusion carefully and chef Kaneko himself checked the strength and taste.
Bravo! Before we left, we booked ourselves in for another meal a week or so later.
In case you missed the previous posts, the L'As web site is here...
