Tokyo

ASAHINA Gastronome

アサヒナガストロノーム

An escape from the everyday, ASAHINA Gastronome’s French cuisine with a Japanese touch is perfection, with each plate a stunning work of art. From the instant you step inside until it is time to go home, you can expect to be treated to exquisite cuisine and hospitality.

Located in the financial district of Kabutocho, this area is not known for its famous restaurants but has recently seen an increase in chic patisseries, stylish bakeries, and casual French eateries. Away from the famous restaurant districts of Ginza and Nishiazabu, the neighborhood is home to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, stockbrokers, and investment bankers. The classic stone buildings and rich history create an atmosphere that entranced the chef with its resemblance to the Paris outskirts.

A dark reception area awaits beyond the bold gold doors, but as you walk through another doorway, black makes way for grey, beige and silver tones in a dining room exuding warmth. Once inside, the tables are placed at a comfortable distance, affording each group privacy, and there is also one private dining room. The stunning chandelier is from Moooi, a design brand founded by a duo, one half of which is Marcel Wanders, who is behind the incredible Louis Vuitton furniture collection. Other unique lighting fixtures dot the purposely “not too modern, not too classic” dining room to create a space that is stylish without being intimidating. The cuisine, interior, tableware, cutlery, everything is infused with a sense of dignity.

Once seated, your eyes will be drawn to the decorative Christofle candelabras, presentation plates and flatware, all with the intricate Jardin D’Eden motif and all punctuating an already elegant space. The restaurant earned its first Michelin star within a year of opening and has held two starts since 2021. Add to that high acclaim from Gault&Millau, and you can be guaranteed a night of luxurious pleasure at one of Japan’s top French restaurants.

Exquisite cuisine and hospitality

When you see the beautiful plates, it is not surprising to learn that Asahina was a beloved apprentice of the late Robuchon, complete with his skillful techniques and incredibly original sensibility. The surprise and intense pleasure experienced by the eyes continue on your palate. The chef simultaneously places great value on an item’s origins and the present. He takes classic dishes and beautifully expresses them in a style that feels relevant now. The ingredients determine the dishes as Chef Asahina takes inspiration from the incredible produce delivered each day, slowly changing the menu over a one- to two-month period.

The dinner course of nine dishes begins with an amuse bouche, so stunning guests hesitate to sink their teeth in. The trio of amuse is served for two to share and may include beet meringue with bottarga, a super sweet Aiko Tomato with a carrot veil, and shrimp cannelloni made with luxury blue shrimp from New Caledonia. The three appetizer dishes to follow may include bluefin tuna smoked with whisky oak and made into a garum fermented fish sauce, topped with avocado and caviar and served with a smoked paprika sauce. Or perhaps you will be treated to black abalone prepared sous vide with large black shimeji mushrooms, snap peas and firefly squid, accompanied by two sauces – abalone liver sauce and sherry vinegar sauce. It is a dish that sings spring.

Likewise, a spring fish course may feature Japanese ingredients like isaki grunt fish and bamboo shoots, with a prosciutto duxelles and savoy cabbage pavé and a reduced jus, all topped with the dried leaf of urui – a plant in the Hosta family that emerges in spring and is prized in Japanese cuisine. Sumptuous roasted duck is served with rolled eggplant and a red wine, butter and duck stock sauce in a dish featuring Kyoto Nanatani Kurowaze duck parts prepared with different techniques. Or perhaps for your meat course, you will be treated to the chef’s specialty, Poulet En Vessie. Only available at certain times, the dish entails stuffing a pig’s bladder with chicken and other ingredients in a technique requiring the highest level of culinary skill. The process traps umami and aroma within, making this a classic dish that excites all five senses, with added entertainment as it is shared tableside among guests. It is an unmistakable favorite among regular guests.

The very sight of the words “pre-dessert” on a menu is enough to win over guests with a sweet tooth. This is followed by the main dessert, perhaps a stunning rose dish featuring ruby cacao in chocolat noir rich in the aroma of rose with incredibly delicate candy work. And then the mignardises small sweet bites! During those last bites, a wagon arrives, offering guests an appetizing array of cheeses for those who still have room to indulge a little more.

INGREDIENTS
Ingredients like duck, chicken, foie gras, and lobster are primarily procured from France. These are complemented by premium seasonal Japanese produce, like Bluefin tuna from Shiokama Port in Miyagi Prefecture, Kyoto Nanatani duck, and Kyoto Tanba Hon-shimeji mushrooms.

CHEF

Satoru Asahina

Satoru Asahina was born in Tokyo in 1969. He found French cuisine painfully cool and decided on his future the moment he finished school. His culinary start came with work at the Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel, where he worked his way up to assistant and then head chef before joining L’ATELIER de Joël Robuchon in Roppongi as assistant head chef in 2004. The same year, he was designated head chef at Nihonbashi’s LE CAFÉ de Joël Robuchon. He left for France in 2007 with a strong desire to polish his skills through training at culinary school and Crêperie-La Saint Georges, a restaurant in the town of Rennes in Bretagne.

After returning to Japan, Asahina served as executive chef and supervisor at LE CAFÉ and LA BOUTIQUE de Joël Robuchon before being installed as head chef at Chateau Restaurant Joël Robuchon. His work was recognized and awarded in the form of the ongoing Michelin two-star status, and Asahina remained at the restaurant until he stepped away from a 13-year career with the group to open his own restaurant, ASAHINA Gastronome, in 2018. In addition to his own illustrious career, Asahina is active in many ways to develop French cuisine and culture in Japan and strengthen friendly relations between Japan and France, including running and adjudicating at cooking competitions and teaching and conducting cooking demonstrations at culinary schools.

In 2023, Asahina opened Galerie ASAHINA, offering all the pleasure and enjoyment of Asahina’s worldview in a more casual setting.

VISION
Chef Asahina wants to make ASAHINA Gastronome Japan’s top French restaurant. This has been his unwavering goal since opening day five years ago, and he is constantly evolving with an eye on that prize. Asahina wishes his apprentices to acquire unparalleled skills through their daily work at his restaurant.

WINE

Befitting a high-end French restaurant, ASAHINA Gastronome boasts a mind-boggling collection of 200-230 bottles of wine. Predominantly French and showcasing the premier regions of Bourgogne and Bordeaux, the wine list also features an incredible 30-40 choices of champagne. Guests can choose from three all-wine pairing courses starting with champagne. And the chance to sip from exquisite Lobmeyr glasses makes the pleasure even greater.