Tokyo, Japan: Les Créations de Narisawa

Narisawa is a 2-starred Michelin restaurant and ranked #27 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. After reading numerous reviews on Chowhound and other food blogger sites, I was hesitant to book a reservation until a few bloggers recommended their 5-course lunch menu which was a value at 7,350 yen ($92.61 US). The 10-course dinner tasting menu is now available during lunch for 21,000 yen ($264.61 US).

The restaurant is located in Aoyama and three blocks away from the Aoyama-Itchome Metro station.

We were presented two menus and I selected the Autumn Lunch, 2012 - Evolve with the Forest. Chef Yoshihiro Narisawa has a deep understanding of the environment and his nature inspiration is seen throughout his creations. His Autumn menu was simply titled, Gift from "Saien", "Satoyama", "Satoumi" and the Forest.

The first course was a preparation of bread at table side. I posted the video in a previous post.

"Forest 2010", Bread of the Forest


Butter covered in moss. This was probably the most creative presentation of butter I've ever seen.

       Kamo nasu, eggplant

Suzuki, Sea bass, maitake mushroom

 

Free range purebred black pork, kagoshima

Waguri, chestnuts, yamazaki whisky

 Macarons

Mignardise Cart

Overall impression: unique interpretation of nature-to-plate. I feel Narisawa's nature-to-plate concept is similar to California's farm-to-table movement. I enjoyed the way Chef Narisawa recreated natural landscapes and made it appealing on the plate. I think we all need to remember where our food comes from and appreciate it without the smoke and mirrors.

Narisawa
Minami Aoyama 2-16-15 Minato-ku, Tokyo
107-0062, Japan
narisawa-yoshihiro.com