As you know, L’Inconnu is one of my favourite haunts in Paris, and its connection to Passage53 is through Chef/Owner Koji Higaki who was the sous chef there for five years, but I hadn’t yet paid a visit to this two starred restaurant of quiet renown, that is until earlier this year, at which point I was shocked it took this long to finally dine here.
The Chef is Shinichi Sato, hailing from Hokkaido, he first came to work in France in late 2000 before eventually finding his way into Pascal Barbot’s kitchen. During his time with L’Astrance, he became acquainted with the Desnoyer family (behind perhaps Paris’ most famous butcher) and was subsequently approached to open a restaurant together nearly a decade ago now. Sato san would quickly solidify his reputation as one of the best two star restaurants in Paris. As with most Japanese-French restaurants, there is an obsession with produce, but due to the Desnoyer connection, Sato san has a little bit of an advantage in that he of course sources meats directly from HD, and for vegetables, they come from Joël Thiébault, amongst others.
I first visited in April 2018, and I have to say this kitchen is extremely impressive. On cuisson, dish after dish, I marvelled at the sheer precision in which Sato san and his team had cooked each element. From the pearlescence of noble wild fish, to the edge to edge pink red meats and the bright greens of peak season Spring asparagus. These folk have serious technique and then some. There is certain refinement, varied but polished textures and a focus on natural flavours, avoiding the temptation to pour butter and cream on everything. The menu is a full carte blanche with a pricing tier basically for additional caviar. Rest assured that you are leaving the meal in a pair of safe hands as Sato san weaves together a more than coherent meal framed around the tastes of the season. The clarity, innovation and individuality of his dishes are certainly special and I can understand why there’s so much love for his elegant cuisine.
I’m not usually one to grade, but this for me is in that 19/20 territory, there were moments of sheer genius that just floored me. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sato san gets the ultimate promotion one of these years. As I understand it, P53 has undergone a facelift this year, they’ve taken away both choice from the menus as well as the table cloths, stripped down the ambiance to something more akin to bistronomy… although on the service front, these guys are clearly pros and definitely serve up to the ** billing.
I love L’Arpege and L’Ambroisie (just, not the pricing), but if I had to choose one top meal in Paris next year, I might actually go with P53 instead.
As you probably already know, the P53 wine-list is one of those littered with plenty of underpriced gems, and generally with low mark-ups. For instance, you could do a mini-vertical of Chevy/Batards from Leflaive and Ramonet for an average cost of 550€ a bottle – not too bad at all considering this is ** . When was the last time that happened? Late 2000s at The Square probably. Myself, I popped the cork on a rather more modest bottle of 2012 Ramonet bourgogne blanc for a cool 60€.
I’ve included photos and some extended notes from two visits to Passage 53 in 2018 below.
Restaurant Passage 53
53 passage of the Panoramas 750002 Paris France
+33 (0) 1 42 33 04 35
Metro: Grands Boulevards
—-
1st visit, April 2018 (Lunch menu Decouverte, 95€ pp + 50€ veal supplement + 50€ caviar supplement)
1. Amuse Bouche – Déclinaison de carottes
2012 Bourgogne Blanc, Dom. Ramonet.
2. White radishes and broad beans
3. Artichoke tempura, king crab and clam sauce
This dish reminds me very much of a Chinese sweetcorn egg-drop soup. The textures of a thickened clear soup, with its flavours concentrated by the viscosity, except this goes deeper, and deeper. The sweetness of the king crab brings out the artichoke’s own, while the clams provide the deep bass notes to tie the dish together. Perhaps the best part is the texture of the batter, moistened and fully taking the sauce, and hence flavour. The dish is incredibly simple, but the execution, choice of ingredient, seasoning are all so spot on that the result is so much greater than the sum of its parts.
Pure Cooking!
4. Green asparagus, morels, egg, sherry sauce, garlic.
A steamed large caliber green spear, full of natural crisp and sweetness was delicious, but what really shone was the cooking of the morels. Bursting with rich juices, and masses of flavour. How did they manage to seep so much flavour in? Was it poached in a deep stock? Mind boggling! The sherry sauce a natural foil to the morels with garlic, there was just the right hum of acidity, nuttiness to match with the earthy umami. And then at the base of it all, providing body to the entire dish is a sort of warm sauce of coddled egg, which I hazard is swirled in the pan firstly with whites until they start to wobble, followed by the yolk. The effect is one of layered richness, coming together to create balance, amplifying the best attributes of the two main Spring jewels.
Some chefs reach for purity with spears, these guys otoh manage to keep the dish looking simple by sticking with classic pairings, but it is their layering of flavours and textures that turn it into something quite special. This is a dish that has it all. As personal benchmarks go, this is the best Asparagus dish I’ve ever eaten.
It is rare to come across restaurants that display such a high level of cuisson for the noble fish, slowly and on low heat to achieve moist flakes with the nacre effect. Probably a low temp steam oven going by the firm flakes. The sauce is absolutely spot on, richness, lightness, perfect calibration of gastrique, with mineral brine from both the oysters and caviar, like fireworks in the mix. Complex simplicity. Amazing dish.
6. Veal chop, white asparagus and a sabayon made with 3year old Comte
7. Gariguettes variation with panna cotta
8. Vanilla ice cream
Doesn’t look like much, but it was saturated in vanilla beans, akin to the L’Ambroisie version. When it is properly made like this with the depth of flavour, it becomes something rather spectacular. The devil is in the most minute of details as they say. I asked for another scoop and they obliged.
9. Coffee variations
10. Chocolate, praline cake
—-
2nd visit, June 2018 (Menu Inspiration, 170€ pp)
1. Amuse Bouche – tomato gazpacho with stracciatella
2. Raw Caesars, cooked Girolles, sherry vinegar, shallots, tomato.
3. Langoustine tartare with kombu chantilly, kombu gelee and draped with mandolin slices of radishes
One of Sato san’s signature dishes, and one which quite perfectly encapsulates the spirit of his French-Japanese cuisine. Elegant, subtle, textured, sweet (live) lango + umami delivered as cream and as jelly. Superb little starter for the tasting menu.
4. Breton blue lobster, apricot, horseradish cream and sea urchin jus.
5. Brill a la nacre, engawa, lightly warmed oysters and vin jaune sauce.
6. White asparagus, meat jus and 3 year old comte sabayon
7. 3 month aged 11 year old galician beef, with cecina, garlic, onion jus gras.
Funk on funk, so to speak.
8. Lamb saddle, rolled braised shoulder and ravioli of sweet roscoff onion and parmesan. With broad beans, and a sauce made from cockles.
Love the combo, it is like lamb and oysters, the saline, iodine works well with lamb as it works to emulate similar flavours as that of pre-sale lamb. Lovely cook on the saddle, very tender, but what impressed is the depth of flavour. Should have asked where it came from. No surprise on meat quality, given Sato san’s connection to Hugo Desnoyer. Incredible dish.
9. Rhubarb and raspberry, and strawberry variation with panna cotta.
As you know, L’Inconnu is one of my favourite haunts in Paris, and its connection to Passage53 is through Chef/Owner Koji Higaki who was the sous chef there for five years, but I hadn’t yet paid a visit to this two starred restaurant of quiet renown, that is until earlier this year, at which point I was shocked it took this long to finally dine here.
The Chef is Shinichi Sato, hailing from Hokkaido, he first came to work in France in late 2000 before eventually finding his way into Pascal Barbot’s kitchen. During his time with L’Astrance, he became acquainted with the Desnoyer family (behind perhaps Paris’ most famous butcher) and was subsequently approached to open a restaurant together nearly a decade ago now. Sato san would quickly solidify his reputation as one of the best two star restaurants in Paris. As with most Japanese-French restaurants, there is an obsession with produce, but due to the Desnoyer connection, Sato san has a little bit of an advantage in that he of course sources meats directly from HD, and for vegetables, they come from Joël Thiébault, amongst others.
I first visited in April 2018, and I have to say this kitchen is extremely impressive. On cuisson, dish after dish, I marvelled at the sheer precision in which Sato san and his team had cooked each element. From the pearlescence of noble wild fish, to the edge to edge pink red meats and the bright greens of peak season Spring asparagus. These folk have serious technique and then some. There is certain refinement, varied but polished textures and a focus on natural flavours, avoiding the temptation to pour butter and cream on everything. The menu is a full carte blanche with a pricing tier basically for additional caviar. Rest assured that you are leaving the meal in a pair of safe hands as Sato san weaves together a more than coherent meal framed around the tastes of the season. The clarity, innovation and individuality of his dishes are certainly special and I can understand why there’s so much love for his elegant cuisine.
I’m not usually one to grade, but this for me is in that 19/20 territory, there were moments of sheer genius that just floored me. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sato san gets the ultimate promotion one of these years. As I understand it, P53 has undergone a facelift this year, they’ve taken away both choice from the menus as well as the table cloths, stripped down the ambiance to something more akin to bistronomy… although on the service front, these guys are clearly pros and definitely serve up to the ** billing.
I love L’Arpege and L’Ambroisie (just, not the pricing), but if I had to choose one top meal in Paris next year, I might actually go with P53 instead.
As you probably already know, the P53 wine-list is one of those littered with plenty of underpriced gems, and generally with low mark-ups. For instance, you could do a mini-vertical of Chevy/Batards from Leflaive and Ramonet for an average cost of 550€ a bottle – not too bad at all considering this is ** . When was the last time that happened? Late 2000s at The Square probably. Myself, I popped the cork on a rather more modest bottle of 2012 Ramonet bourgogne blanc for a cool 60€.
I’ve included photos and some extended notes from two visits to Passage 53 in 2018 below.
Restaurant Passage 53
53 passage of the Panoramas 750002 Paris France
+33 (0) 1 42 33 04 35
Metro: Grands Boulevards
—-
1st visit, April 2018 (Lunch menu Decouverte, 95€ pp + 50€ veal supplement + 50€ caviar supplement)
1. Amuse Bouche – Déclinaison de carottes
2012 Bourgogne Blanc, Dom. Ramonet.
2. White radishes and broad beans
3. Artichoke tempura, king crab and clam sauce
This dish reminds me very much of a Chinese sweetcorn egg-drop soup. The textures of a thickened clear soup, with its flavours concentrated by the viscosity, except this goes deeper, and deeper. The sweetness of the king crab brings out the artichoke’s own, while the clams provide the deep bass notes to tie the dish together. Perhaps the best part is the texture of the batter, moistened and fully taking the sauce, and hence flavour. The dish is incredibly simple, but the execution, choice of ingredient, seasoning are all so spot on that the result is so much greater than the sum of its parts.
Pure Cooking!
4. Green asparagus, morels, egg, sherry sauce, garlic.
A steamed large caliber green spear, full of natural crisp and sweetness was delicious, but what really shone was the cooking of the morels. Bursting with rich juices, and masses of flavour. How did they manage to seep so much flavour in? Was it poached in a deep stock? Mind boggling! The sherry sauce a natural foil to the morels with garlic, there was just the right hum of acidity, nuttiness to match with the earthy umami. And then at the base of it all, providing body to the entire dish is a sort of warm sauce of coddled egg, which I hazard is swirled in the pan firstly with whites until they start to wobble, followed by the yolk. The effect is one of layered richness, coming together to create balance, amplifying the best attributes of the two main Spring jewels.
Some chefs reach for purity with spears, these guys otoh manage to keep the dish looking simple by sticking with classic pairings, but it is their layering of flavours and textures that turn it into something quite special. This is a dish that has it all. As personal benchmarks go, this is the best Asparagus dish I’ve ever eaten.
5. Turbot, poached oyster, vin jaune sauce and Sologne baeri caviar
It is rare to come across restaurants that display such a high level of cuisson for the noble fish, slowly and on low heat to achieve moist flakes with the nacre effect. Probably a low temp steam oven going by the firm flakes. The sauce is absolutely spot on, richness, lightness, perfect calibration of gastrique, with mineral brine from both the oysters and caviar, like fireworks in the mix. Complex simplicity. Amazing dish.
6. Veal chop, white asparagus and a sabayon made with 3year old Comte
7. Gariguettes variation with panna cotta
8. Vanilla ice cream
Doesn’t look like much, but it was saturated in vanilla beans, akin to the L’Ambroisie version. When it is properly made like this with the depth of flavour, it becomes something rather spectacular. The devil is in the most minute of details as they say. I asked for another scoop and they obliged.
9. Coffee variations
10. Chocolate, praline cake
—-
2nd visit, June 2018 (Menu Inspiration, 170€ pp)
1. Amuse Bouche – tomato gazpacho with stracciatella
2. Raw Caesars, cooked Girolles, sherry vinegar, shallots, tomato.
3. Langoustine tartare with kombu chantilly, kombu gelee and draped with mandolin slices of radishes
One of Sato san’s signature dishes, and one which quite perfectly encapsulates the spirit of his French-Japanese cuisine. Elegant, subtle, textured, sweet (live) lango + umami delivered as cream and as jelly. Superb little starter for the tasting menu.
4. Breton blue lobster, apricot, horseradish cream and sea urchin jus.
5. Brill a la nacre, engawa, lightly warmed oysters and vin jaune sauce.
6. White asparagus, meat jus and 3 year old comte sabayon
7. 3 month aged 11 year old galician beef, with cecina, garlic, onion jus gras.
Funk on funk, so to speak.
8. Lamb saddle, rolled braised shoulder and ravioli of sweet roscoff onion and parmesan. With broad beans, and a sauce made from cockles.
Love the combo, it is like lamb and oysters, the saline, iodine works well with lamb as it works to emulate similar flavours as that of pre-sale lamb. Lovely cook on the saddle, very tender, but what impressed is the depth of flavour. Should have asked where it came from. No surprise on meat quality, given Sato san’s connection to Hugo Desnoyer. Incredible dish.
9. Rhubarb and raspberry, and strawberry variation with panna cotta.
10. Lemon variations and vanilla ice cream