A golden milestone in your journey

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I still find it amazing that it was about 10 years ago when I first walked through the doors of Ta Vie 旅 with a few friends. We were very excited about Chef Sato Hideaki (佐藤秀明)'s new French restaurant, which would be a big departure from the modern Japanese fare of Chef Yamamoto Seiji (山本征治) he oversaw at Tenku Ryugin (天空龍吟). Over the years I've been a big fan and continued supporter, watching the restaurant gain its first Michelin star in its first year of opening, followed by a second in its second year. I was so ecstatic when I witnessed the restaurant's promotion to 3 stars two years ago, and now they are celebrating their 10th anniversary.

I returned to the restaurant after a long absence for a special lunch today. Kang Mingoo (강민구) of Mingles in Seoul and Kawate Hiroyasu (川手寛康) of Florilège in Tokyo are joining Sato-san and their teams for a collaboration on this special occasion. Having missed out on many of Sato-san's previous collaborations, I decided that I wasn't going to miss this one.

My previous visit had been on the last day before the restaurant closed for renovations, so this was the first time walking into the space in quite a while. I'm grateful that our gift is still proudly displayed in a prominent spot. We took note of the slightly different look of the dining room, although the biggest change would have been inside the kitchen.

Besides his kitchen team, Kawate-san also brought along Takada Shinnosuke (髙田真之助), the mixologist behind Sodden Frog that is due to open just upstairs from Florilège. Takada-san created two cocktails for this collaboration, so Foursheets and I each ordered one:

Celery / rum / melon / grapefruit / irizake - with all the fruit elements in this cocktail, it wasn't surprising that I would find it to my liking. The presence of irizake (煎り酒) added a very Japanese touch.

Paprika / mezcal / tomato / guava / rhubarb - this was very smoky, as advertized. The guava made this sweeter than Foursheets had expected, so this wasn't really what she would have wanted. Pretty interesting nonetheless.

Nukazuke (糠漬け) bread - starting a meal with this always makes me happy. I just love the thin, crispy crust and the light, airy crumb.

Housemade butter and ricotta

From Mingles: Two variations of sea urchin : chilled asparagus and soy milk soup with sea urchin - we've got the asparagus and soy milk soup at the bottom, which made the dish pretty refreshing as it's served chilled. The tongues of sea urchin were placed on top of thin slices of crispy potato chips. Taking this whole thing in one bite was the better way, as the amount of sea urchin in the mouth was enough to avoid being overwhelmed by the combination of asparagus and sesame oil.

Sea urchin tart with burrata and carrot - the dehydrated carrots provided some interesting texture, and the fennel seed oil was pretty nice.

Confited bamboo shoot, lemon dumpling, smoked tuna wagyu served with bamboo consommé, from Florilège - the goodies in the bowl were covered by a thin sheet of paper made of lemon purée. The Florilège team very kindly made an ingredient substitution for us...

Once the sheet was lifted, we could see a dumpling made of tofu and lemon confit, along with thick-cut slice of wagyu which had been marinated with miso and smoked. Topped with thin slices of bamboo shoots as well as watercress roots. The beef was, of course, very tender and tasty with fat. The bamboo shoots were nice and sweet with very clean flavors, but that lemon dumpling was the biggest surprise... with diced cubes of lemon rind. Soooo nice and fragrant. And that lemon paper was very impressive.

House-made pasta with deep-fried “桜-SAKURA” shrimps and spring cabbage, from Ta vie - a very familiar dish to us, which instantly put me in my happy place. Seems like we got even more shrimp than before... and I ain't complainin'!

I love sweet and crunchy cabbage, but I LOVE sakura shrimp that's been wonderfully fried to release the umami.

Pain de rustique - this is actually my favorite bread here, although the crust wasn't as amazing as on my previous visits. Still very happy to enjoy this.

In the mood for love - I needed anothere girlie drink, so of course I picked the house Champagne cocktail made with strawberry sorbet and a rosebud. So nice and fruity, and loved the rose.

Fermented Chinese cabbage and sayori halfbeak covered with fromage blanc topped with denbu fish flake, from Florilège - this was quite a pretty presentation, with the rolls sitting in a sauce made of fermented cabbage juice and rice, along with a few drops of olive oil. The sauce was slightly viscous thanks to the rice, with some refreshing, fruity acidity that reminded me of Korean mulkimchi (물김치).

The exterior of the rolls consisted of a layer of fromage blanc gelée, then we had fermented Chinese cabbage, and a center of Japanese halfbeak (細魚) with nori (海苔), apple, pine nuts, and perilla leaf. Topped with some denbu (田麩) made of cod accented with yuzu. This was such an interesting dish, with the soft texture of the rolls punctuated by crunchy pine nuts. The slight sweetness from fromage blanc gets paired with the fruity acidity of the sauce and the fermented cabbage. Quelle surprise!

Korean-style Chicken Dishes : Chicken stuffed with ginseng sausage (using local Hong Kong chicken), Chicken dumplings with perilla seed, seasonal jang a jji, from Mingles - we've got two of the most iconic Korean chicken dishes on one plate... samgyetang (삼계탕) and Korean fried chicken. The lighter sauce was made with perilla seeds, while the darker sauce was made with mushrooms and Korean black vinegar. Served with some jangajji (장아찌) on the side.

We have zucchini flower 'ravioli' stuffed with ginseng chicken. This was nice and delicate. I love how Mingoo keeps re-interpreting this classic dish.

The KFC came stuffed with black ginseng sauce in the middle. This was just so, sooo good, as the skin under the crunchy batter was so thin and bouncy.

Crab and corn: Hokkaido kegani crab and Japanese sweet corn, Cajun butter sauce, from Ta vie - one of Foursheets' favorite dishes, and of course also one of mine. But today the dish looks a little different... I think Sato-san's added something extra, but I can't quite figure out what it is.

I really, really love this combination where you have the whole leg of the Japanese horsehair crab (毛蟹) wrapped in minced crab mousse, then encased in sweet corn. The umami and sweetness just worked so well together, and then there was a very slight kick from the Cajun butter sauce. Just like each time I've had this dish, I got the inside of my mouth jabbed by the sharp needles as I chomped down on the end of the crab leg to try to extract the last bits of crab meat...

So finally we have the main course, which was the one dish where all three chefs contributed to. The milk-fed Aveyron lamb was grilled by Kawate-san, and it looked beautiful.

The pickles from Mingoo included tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, fatsia (장아찌) / Korean angelica shoots, and Jerusalem artichoke which had been marinated in Korean soy sauce for 2 years. The latter was very, very crunchy.

The sauce ravigote came from Sato-san, with capers, onions, sansho leaves (木の芽), green olives, parsley... and gets some of the last hanazansho (花山椒) of the season mixed into it for added fragrance. Here, too, was something extra and strangely unfamiliar...

I love that the lamb chop came thick cut, drizzled with ravigote and served with some dried kombu and sansho powder. But why was Mingoo so stingy with his tomato and cabbage???!!! They were really, really delicious!

Perfect doneness. Just look at the color! Of course, it looks even prettier with some green and the extra bling.

The lamb was WONDERFUL. Thick cut just makes it so satisfying, especially when you've got all that juicy meat working with the gamey, lamby fat.

Roselle tea - always so refreshing and tasty.

Fresh Japanese strawberries and blood orange with yogurt whey sorbet, bergamot marmalade, from Ta vie - as beautiful as it is refreshing and delicious. Love the flavors from the blood orange and blood orange gelée, a touch of creaminess to go with the fruity acidity, and the intense fragrance from bergamot really brought a smile to my face. I just wish it came in 4 times this size instead of fitting into a shot glass...

A slice of Miyazaki Mango, from Ta vie - a familiar dessert which, as a mango lover, I'm always happy to see. Very ripe and sweet mango with a layer of génoise encased in the middle. OF COURSE I enjoyed both portions on our table...

Simple Kaffa Tano Batak Mandheling - gotta do this coffee...

Chocolate pudding - ...so I can have my favorite chocolate pudding! And it is my favorite chocolate pudding not because it sometimes comes with lots of bling on top, but because of the amazing fragrance from kaffir lime leaf. This beats every other chocolate dessert in my book.

We were so, so happy to have come for lunch today. As a long time fan of the restaurant and, of course, both Sato-san and Takano-san, we wouldn't miss this for the world. Glad to see Kawate-san and Mingoo join in the festivities to put on a great meal, and I look forward to returning to their restaurants soon.