GOURMET GUIDE 70
GOURMET GUIDE 70 NetJets
STEPHEN JOYCE; PREVIOUS SPREAD FROM LEFT: © MANDARIN ORIENTAL, © DORCHESTER COLLECTION IT ROUGHLY translates to “I’ll leave it up to you” – a nod to the all-knowing sushi chef on the other side of the spotless counter to whom you respectfully accede on matters of freshness and choice and whose largely pescatarian set menu is purveyed personally to a select few at each given seating and can in no way be altered or amended. For diners who may have special requests (“I’ll have the wasabi on the side,” for example) or are oftentimes tardy to their appointed reservation time or anticipate having a boisterous evening meal, omakase may not be for you. But if you are a diehard gastronome, these no-choice, multicourse Japanese affairs are the ultimate expression of excellence and are now burgeoning around the world. Omakase’s roots date back to Japan’s Edo period (1603-1868) when the purveyors of fish would serve their best and freshest catch to their most trusted customers, employing the Japanese spirit of omotenashi—the art of hospitality ingrained in the guest’s happiness. Today, we are as healthful and ichthyophagous as ever, and the demand for top-of-the-line, seafood-centred rations has never been more acute, which is why we are seeing the emergence of small, discreet, hole-in-the-wall eateries around the world, which have proliferated and are drawing au fait gastronomes in droves. That’s if you can get a reservation. Take London, for example. With myriad direct flights to Japan, and with the British Isles a bountiful aquatic larder for the freshest catch, top-tier sushi chefs are now showcasing their skills and creativity in spartan, often unmarked, intimate settings where tradition and authenticity come to the fore and the focus remains firmly on high-quality ingredients and expert preparation. Sushi Kanesaka (45parklane.com) is a perfect example. Hidden behind an unmarked door on the second floor of the Dorchester Hotel’s sister property, 45 Park Lane, it oozes the kind of zen “find” that diners crave. In fact, it’s a setting straight out of Ginza, which also happens to be where master chef Shinji Kanesaka’s two Michelin-starred original outpost is based. Like its sibling, napkins are delivered in hand-lacquered boxes, the ikebana floral arrangement is reassuringly front and centre, and guests are asked to “refrain from wearing perfume as the refreshing aroma of vinegar is an important part of the sushi experience—as is the natural flavor of the fish itself.” Those lucky enough to secure a reservation at the 13-seat sleek cedarwood counter will enjoy not only an 18-course masterpiece but they’ll also witness monk-like chefs working together in an elegant ballet in a cosy and polished space framed with soothing backlit washi screens. Another transportive portal is Taku (takumayfair.com), the 16-seat brainchild of chef Takuya Watanabe, whose Parisian omakase restaurant Jin was the first to be bestowed with a Michelin star. Located behind noren curtains on fashionable Albemarle Street in Mayfair, the ever-changing, Edomae-style cuisine (a more traditional expression of sushi-making that involves laboriously curing fish, and a particular way with rice that allows the delicate umami notes to come to the fore), was lavished with a Michelin star in March 2023, just four months after its debut. Diners at the pine bar have a choice of a 20-course menu or one with additional courses appended with ultra-premium ingredients such as caviar and truffle in a serene oasis of pale woods and natural stone. Mayha London (mayhalondon.com), meanwhile, is omakase for a less-formal breed, complete with a speakeasylike subterranean bijou bar and verdant courtyard where preprandials are crafted with as much care and attention as the fare that’s served up at the curved stone chef’s table superjacent, which has touches of an industrial test kitchen to it. Beneath an eye-catching bespoke light installation that recalls a tree of light or a beautiful canopy of illuminated flowers and with an eclectic soundtrack as the accompaniment, head chefs Jurek Wasio and Yuichi Nakaya craft a menu using meticulously sourced seasonal ingredients from a range of local and Japanese suppliers, the latter providing the finest seafood and specialty produce, at two seatings to 11 patrons each evening on chic Chiltern Street. Then there is Roketsu (roketsu.co.uk), a gloriously minimalist bilevel time-space threshold that instantly transports you to Kyoto, where, incidentally, all of the pared-back and streamlined interiors were fashioned by the craftsmen from Nakamura Sotoji Komuten, one of the world’s leading experts in the Sukiya style of architecture using Japanese hinoki wood, before being shipped to the UK and assembled on-site. The LIGHT FANTASTIC Mayha London’s bespoke installation and counter Previous pages, from left: Omakase at The Aubrey; chef Shinji Kanesaka at 45 Park Lane NetJets 71
