If I had to pick one restaurant this year that surprised/excited me, it would most definitely be Abri. Opened by Katsuaki Okiyama in 2012, it is part of the original set of Japanase-French restaurants that has long since become a permanent feature in the Paris dining scene. A cult restaurant of sorts today, the degree of difficulty in securing a booking here (don’t bother walking in) is unquestionably high. It took at least a couple of years to align my calendar and to actually nab a table here. I’ve been back twice since (including for its Saturday lunch only katsu sando), and all I can say is that it is everything I’ve ever dreamed of and more. Okiyama san offers a 4 course set lunch (€26), but the attraction is the dinner carte blanche, 6 for €52. Save for a soup served mid-way between the fish and meat, the most exhilarating part is how Okiyama san seemingly sends out a completely different menu to every other table. Tiger prawn for us, frog’s legs for next, seabass carpaccio for the parallel table – its a spectacle unto itself. How does he manage to do this for a restaurant with – at most – 20 covers? The most varied mise en place I’ve ever seen..!
And yet through all this apparent chaos, his carte blanche is coordinated and calibrated to a tee, ebbing and flowing with the aforementioned soup, serving as a mid-meal palate reboot that works like clockwork.
Of course, most of all, the food is superb. Due in no small part to his training, Okiyama’s cuisine is assured and individual, he pushes for flavour innovation but technique is all grounded in solid classical training. I’m surprised he doesn’t have a star, but it is Paris and not London afterall – bistronomy is still romantic like that.
We found that the best way to get a table is to ring them up just as service is finishing or about to start. Alternatively iMessage them, as they work their FOH from a single iPad. Don’t miss this if you can help it!
2. Grilled prawn, a touch of lemon, sage leaves, a light saffron infused fish soup, and topped with these amazing potatoes/chopped (and cooked but not coloured) onions.
A little sweet, a little acidity, plenty of umami, and seemingly soaking up all the prawn’s life affirming flavours. The flavours are natural but also burst onto your palate. There is nothing difficult nor challenging, it is a simple, yet masterful dish, and one of the best plates of food I’ve ever had the pleasure to eat.
3. Turnip soup, earl grey chantilly
4. Scorpion fish perfectly cooked to sheen of nacre, asparagus, peas and a very light beurre blanc made with a dash of honey and potato
5. Roast duck breast, roast endives, carrot, turnips and red wine jus
6. Molten chocolate fondant
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2nd Visit, November 2018
1. Turnips, honey, lemon, rcoket flowers and seabass carpaccio
2. Poached oyster with red wine sauce, anchovy crumb and an emulsion of jamon
3. Pumpkin soup with a light pear and and apple chantilly
IMG_2144
4. Scorpion fish, cockles, broccoli, and beurre blanc
5. Iberico secreto, with high fat content, presumably brined and cooked to perfect pink that simply melted in the mouth. With endive, radicchio and Jerusalem artichokes
6. Mango, pineapple, kiwi, thyme ice cream and lychee foam
If I had to pick one restaurant this year that surprised/excited me, it would most definitely be Abri. Opened by Katsuaki Okiyama in 2012, it is part of the original set of Japanase-French restaurants that has long since become a permanent feature in the Paris dining scene. A cult restaurant of sorts today, the degree of difficulty in securing a booking here (don’t bother walking in) is unquestionably high. It took at least a couple of years to align my calendar and to actually nab a table here. I’ve been back twice since (including for its Saturday lunch only katsu sando), and all I can say is that it is everything I’ve ever dreamed of and more. Okiyama san offers a 4 course set lunch (€26), but the attraction is the dinner carte blanche, 6 for €52. Save for a soup served mid-way between the fish and meat, the most exhilarating part is how Okiyama san seemingly sends out a completely different menu to every other table. Tiger prawn for us, frog’s legs for next, seabass carpaccio for the parallel table – its a spectacle unto itself. How does he manage to do this for a restaurant with – at most – 20 covers? The most varied mise en place I’ve ever seen..!
And yet through all this apparent chaos, his carte blanche is coordinated and calibrated to a tee, ebbing and flowing with the aforementioned soup, serving as a mid-meal palate reboot that works like clockwork.
Of course, most of all, the food is superb. Due in no small part to his training, Okiyama’s cuisine is assured and individual, he pushes for flavour innovation but technique is all grounded in solid classical training. I’m surprised he doesn’t have a star, but it is Paris and not London afterall – bistronomy is still romantic like that.
We found that the best way to get a table is to ring them up just as service is finishing or about to start. Alternatively iMessage them, as they work their FOH from a single iPad. Don’t miss this if you can help it!
Photos and some descriptions from 2 visits below.
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1st Visit, June 2018
1. Leeks, blood orange, caramalised onion, parmesan cream, parmesan crisps, trout roe, fresh pistachio, summer truffle and coriander flowers.
2. Grilled prawn, a touch of lemon, sage leaves, a light saffron infused fish soup, and topped with these amazing potatoes/chopped (and cooked but not coloured) onions.
A little sweet, a little acidity, plenty of umami, and seemingly soaking up all the prawn’s life affirming flavours. The flavours are natural but also burst onto your palate. There is nothing difficult nor challenging, it is a simple, yet masterful dish, and one of the best plates of food I’ve ever had the pleasure to eat.
3. Turnip soup, earl grey chantilly
4. Scorpion fish perfectly cooked to sheen of nacre, asparagus, peas and a very light beurre blanc made with a dash of honey and potato
5. Roast duck breast, roast endives, carrot, turnips and red wine jus
6. Molten chocolate fondant
—
2nd Visit, November 2018
1. Turnips, honey, lemon, rcoket flowers and seabass carpaccio
2. Poached oyster with red wine sauce, anchovy crumb and an emulsion of jamon
3. Pumpkin soup with a light pear and and apple chantilly
4. Scorpion fish, cockles, broccoli, and beurre blanc
5. Iberico secreto, with high fat content, presumably brined and cooked to perfect pink that simply melted in the mouth. With endive, radicchio and Jerusalem artichokes
6. Mango, pineapple, kiwi, thyme ice cream and lychee foam