“Sharing Japanese food culture to the world.” The series of interviews feature the vision of Pocket Concierge. We will interview chefs of the leading restaurants in Japan and introduce their thoughts on the restaurant and their way of thinking as a “top” chef.
In this first installment, we are presenting an interview with Mr. Shuzo Kishida, who is the owner-chef of French restaurant “Quintessence” in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Since 2008 Michelin Guide Tokyo was issued, Quintessence has been awarded three stars for 10 consecutive years and was ranked 20th in the 2016 “Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants”. Chef Mr. Kishida has received a huge attention not only from Japan but also from all over the world. And in May 2016, “Quintessence” celebrated its 10th anniversary. We will interview him about the restaurant and Mr. Kishida’s cuisine philosophy.
His culinary philosophy learned from his teacher has led to the preference of “Omakase”
— Many of the chefs from ‘Quintessence’ have been successful and were awarded Michelin stars.
I am happy for that. I believe that if you understand and master the importance of identifying the “essence”, you can become a successful chef. The name “Quintessence = essence” has already been decided since the beginning of my training in Paris, and I have been continuing with this belief for ten years now. The philosophy of seeking “essence” that was learned from Mr. Barbot is still the root of Quintessence.
— The course of “Quintessence” is “Omakase”, right?
The style of “complete Omakase” which is the feature of “Quintessence” has not changed for the past ten years. That is to maintain the quality of cooking. It is the “complete Omakase” style that pursues “essence”. As a professional chef who knows what is the most delicious ingredients of the day, it is not possible to make the dish after the customer orders, but having the feeling that I want this person to enjoy this dish that is made from this ingredient all the way from the morning. Think about it, if you spend time and make the dishes according to the visiting time of each person, you can create good dish. That is no doubt. I can promise that. As with the a la carte, even if the ingredient is not the best on the day, you still have to make it because you have that on the menu. It is impossible to offer really delicious dishes in that way. Don’t you think it is nonsense? That’s why “Quintessence” serves “complete Omakase”. Otherwise, you cannot deliver delicious items.
— In your “Omakase” , the special dish “Goat milk Bavarois” is famous, how did you come up with this dish?
When I was in France, I held home party every month, where all of my chef friends gather and bring their original dishes. Originally, “Salt and olive oil” was the theme. Salt and olive oil at the time in France was very tasty, and I was surprised that they have become a catalyst. Particularly with salt, because it is used for all dishes, if the salt is not tasty, the level of dish gradually goes down. Conversely, if the salt is delicious, the level of the dish will gradually rise. However, the seasoning cannot be the main character. Then, what would happen if you think about a dish that is full of salt’s freshness … I thought about reversing the master-slave relationship between ingredients and seasonings and tried to make dishes with seasonings as the main character.
The ingredients that are combined are very simple. The Bavarois is made from goat’s milk from Kyoto, lily roots and macadamia nuts were sliced and mixed, the tastes are very gentle. So, the texture of salt and the fragrance of olive oil stands out perfectly. In this dish, “I can confidently tell people that this is the seasoning that I used! It is the best”, is the backbone. I made it so that everyone can enjoy and understands the concept easily.
— “Meringue ice cream” is also a signature, right?
Yes. I do not have much memory of eating meringue in Japan, but it is piled up in the bakeries in France. The pillow-like sized meringue sweets are always piled up in the bakeries. This is almost the same for any bakery in France. In the beginning, I wonder why is it like that, but I guess it’s just because it is meringue. Since half of meringue is sugar, it is sweet, but besides that it is egg white. It is way too sweet and can be disgusting, it is not meant to be consumed. But, is meringue really bad? And then I thought at that time, you should not only reproduce delicious dishes, but also should improve not delicious dishes. So, I thought that if I could come up with the improvement point and I can make it more delicious.
So, I tried very hard to come up with the reasons why Meringue is not delicious. First of all, it is too sweet. Then, it makes my mouth dried. Also, the amount of meringue in France is way too much. I thought there was a way to improve it.
First, after making the meringue, I crushed it into pieces and made it into powder. And then I melt it into the dough of ice cream, that substituted the sugar. If you consider meringue as granulated sugar, you will be able to use it as a seasoning. I think baked meringue’s fragrance is delicious that cannot be duplicate. Also, you can control the sweetness by the amount of meringue. And the powdery texture that made your mouth dry can be solved by the moistness in the base of ice cream, so it will have a smooth texture. By completely clearing the improvement points, a whole new dessert has been created. And I’ve been making it since the restaurant opened till now.
— Finally, is there anything you want to tell to all the visitors from all over the world?
The desire of the chef who wants to serve delicious food and the feeling of the customer who wants to eat delicious food are in the same direction. So, in order to fulfill this purpose, please don’t be late to your reservation time, inform us of all dislike ingredients in advance and please do not leave your seat during the meal. I want to make sure that all the customers can enjoy delicious food, so I hope all the customers can follow the minimum manner. It is an important issue for restaurants as we continue to value the importance of our customers.
Know more about this restaurant here＞＞＞https://goo.gl/dz8Tww
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