L'Osier, an iconic fine dining stalwart in the heart of Ginza, has been around way before I can spell the word "F I N E D I N I N G". The cosmetic giant Shiseido Group started this storied restaurant back in 1973 and it's been a popular place for exquisite French dining ever since. When the Michelin Guide started covering Tokyo in 2008, it instantly became a 3-star Michelin restaurant but that was before the renovation when Chef Bruno Menard was still around. Two and a half years have now passed us by and there's a new chapter unfolded here right before our very eyes.
Things didn't start off smoothly like I thought it would. When I walked through those doors with a camera in my hand, the first thing they were interested in was to wrestle that camera away from my hand (instead of asking if I had a reservation). They should have engaged me in a more sincere and professional manner. That wasn't a very nice way to greet your customer and the choice of words they had for me was definitely inappropriate. (S0 what's the problem visiting a restaurant with a camera in my hand?)
But thankfully the Restaurant Manager saw the whole thing unveiled and quickly intervened before we got further upset (and insulted) by his crew. He quickly brushed them aside and showed us our way down to the dining area.
I know Japanese are very concerned about privacy and rightfully they should be. So I do understand and respect the "no-photo" policies being reinforced in some of these places. But they should approach us with respect.
As soon as we got settled down, the manager came over again and asked to have our cameras confiscated (*but in a nice and friendly tone*) although he promised that his team would take some real nice photos of each and every course for us. How could we say no to such heartwarming service?
This was taken before we left the restaurant, a semi-private dining area tailored for a small group. Very simple yet elegant design with just the perfect color tone.
For the first time in a very long time, I can focus on eating without having a camera on one hand and a fork on the other.
Amuse bouche was a trio of nibbles that showed a lot of promise. I started off with the spicy pepper macaron and chestnut cookie with truffled cream sauce, then finished with the traditional pork jelly sandwich. That was heaven.
I was really pumped up for my first course and this chestnut velouté with milk foam certainly did not disappoint. Very creamy and silky smooth texture and the flavors were absolutely pleasing to the senses.
But nothing, I mean nothing would ever beat the scampi on this afternoon. This was so good that it eventually made it to the top of my top 20 list this year.
It was a pair of perfectly executed scampi. The flavors were deeply enhanced by a touch of olive oil and a passion fruit and mango reduction on top. Love the fact that the sweetness of the scampi was nicely complemented by a vegetable jelly and zucchini tower topped with eggplant and caviar.
And that artful presentation was simply amazing (The circle was drawn with some balsamic vinegar.). I could see a lot of thoughts have been put into the design of this dish. Just marvelous.
My meat course, a roasted pigeon almost managed to beat the previous dish. Almost. Succulent pigeon breast was met with a nice bed of risotto and diced vegetables. Love the trumpet mushroom purée that worked so well together with the pigeon leg confit. Another brilliant dish from this talented kitchen.
A bit of pre-dessert before they sent out our "real" desserts - cream puff, chocolate tart, strawberry jelly and pistachio macaron. If this was a sign of things to come, then we are definitely in for a treat.
And what a treat it was!!! Another masterpiece came in the form of a mont blanc, a re-invention of the classic mont blanc using chestnut cream, frozen chestnut custard cream, cherry and meringue.
This looks like a bonus dish following our dessert. A palate cleanser (what now?) perhaps? Even a simple sorbet, they managed to do it with class. Look at this adorable dish that comprises of a sangria sorbet and Japanese grape stuffed with mixed fruit and jelly. They were served on a pool of grapefruit jelly and wine. Wow!
We didn't want this to end so soon but couldn't help to notice we were already down to our petite fours. We got to pick four items out of the trolley and my picks included the salted caramel candy, snowball, peach jelly and strawberry marshmallow. Not bad.
When we were all set to go, the Restaurant Manager came up again to see how things were going with us. Of course we let him know how much we appreciated this meal. He apologized for the earlier "miscommunication" back at the reception and offered to give us a little tour of the place. Even had the chance to check out their private dining room which had a "secret" passage directly connected to the parking lot.
Like most great eateries in Japan, the chief commander of the kitchen was already waiting at the entrance to say goodbye to us. We exchanged pleasantries with new Executive Chef Olivier Chaignon and congratulated him with what-we-thought-was one of the best meal we had all year.
This was really one of the very few times that every dish from a single meal managed to click all at the same time and wowed us right from start to finish. Aside from the little saga with the reception people, everything was totally spotless from ambiance, food to service.
Before this visit, I thought new Executive Chef Olivier Chaignon had really big shoes to fill taking over from 3-star Michelin Chef Bruno Menard but the Pierre Gagnaire alumnus did more than enough to prove doubters wrong. I was particularly impressed with the way he breathed new life into this fine dining institution. This was by far the best dining experience I had all year. Thank you, Chef Chaignon and Team!
Food Rating: 9.7/10
Price: ¥¥¥¥
Address: 7-5-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Closest Metro Station: Ginza
Tel: +81 3-3571-6050
Website: losier.shiseido.co.jp/e
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