The other day, I had the chance to go to "Otowa Restaurant" in Utsunomiya City. Although it is in the same Tochigi Prefecture, it is not a resort area like Nikko or Nasu, and although "Otowa Restaurant" is a member of Relais & Chateaux, it does not have any lodging facilities like an auberge, so you have to stay at a hotel near the station or in the downtown area. In the end, I avoided a business hotel and decided to stay in the Rose Suite of the city hotel "Utsunomiya Tobu Hotel Grande". Recently, when I go to the countryside, I have been staying at lodging facilities such as auberge-style lodgings with two meals included or "building accommodations" in Shizuoka City that do not include meals, so this was a rare stay at a hotel with breakfast included. When this happens, I always wonder about the "hotel breakfast."

At auberge restaurants, the breakfast is quite elaborate. However, it is so extravagant that I wonder if it is possible to eat that much in the morning, and I, who am originally a small eater, have to leave some food, which I always feel sorry for. In the end, there is too much to be had and it doesn't leave much of an impression. The only exception was the croissant served at breakfast in the main dining room "Sanrokushichi" when I stayed at "Matsumoto Honbako" in Asama Onsen, Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture. The breakfast here was also locally produced and included sausages, vegetables, fermented foods, and other things, but the freshly baked bread was served from "Alps Bakery" on the first floor of "Koyanagi," another hotel on the same premises as "Matsumoto Jujo." Among the croissants was a rare masterpiece that I have seen in recent years. Just touching it made my hands shiny with butter, and the butter oozed out as I chewed it. The saltiness was just right, and the dough, which tends to be sweet, was skillfully made to have the presence of bread rather than a pastry. Even now, I long to eat that croissant.

Speaking of gorgeous breakfasts, I also had breakfast at the Kitano Hotel in Kobe, which touts itself as having the "world's best breakfast" while staying there. This is the breakfast of La Cote d'Or, which was recreated by a head chef who studied under the late Bernard Loiseau. There was so much food, including prosciutto, that I was honestly put off by the portion size, which seemed larger than brunch. As I will explain later, breakfasts in Paris are simple continental, which is the exact opposite. Since it wasn't dinner, the simple idea that high-quality ingredients and extravagance make something "delicious" just seemed "out of place."

The highlight of the breakfast at the Utsunomiya Tobu Hotel Grande was the gyoza. Buffets are the norm for breakfast at this type of hotel, and the food in the warming container called a buffet warmer tends to dry out, so you can't expect the best quality. There were several types of gyoza, and the skin was dry and hard. However, it was my first time eating something called Utsunomiya gyoza. The taste was quite unique and I enjoyed it to a certain extent. However, I was surprised that there were no egg dishes. There seemed to be raw eggs for rice, but no fried eggs or scrambled eggs. Even though there is a shortage of eggs and prices are rising, there is a shortage of ingredients. There is not enough food to make up for that, so I was honestly disappointed.

I think that even if it's a buffet, a hotel breakfast where egg dishes are made to order is preferable. However, I once had a horrible experience with this. It was at a first-class hotel in Osaka. For egg dishes, you order how cooked you want them, such as fried eggs or scrambled eggs, and they are prepared in the kitchen and served to your table. I ordered scrambled eggs. The dish that came out was well cooked, half-cooked, and looked delicious. However, the moment I took a bite, it was too salty. They had clearly gotten the saltiness wrong. I immediately called the waiter and rejected the plate, saying that it was too salty and inedible. A while later, I was shocked to see the plate that was brought to me. The amount was clearly doubled. I had a bad feeling. As expected, it was still too salty. The chef probably put the returned scrambled eggs back into the frying pan and added more egg liquid to try to revive them. Maybe the chef didn't know that if you add too much salt, it can't be revived and you have to make it again. I was shocked and immediately ordered the waiter to "remake it again." This is the state of affairs at a famous first-class hotel. If they were to do it individually, mistakes like this would occur. In that respect, if it were a "buffet warmer," it would be unlikely that they would make such a simple mistake as making the whole container salty. However, scrambled eggs would end up being fried eggs.

To get straight to the point, the most memorable breakfast for me was the continental breakfast I had in my hotel room in Paris. The so-called buffet style breakfast room is usually served in larger hotels. In designer hotels with a limited number of rooms, such as the one I stayed in, room service is the norm. When you wake up in the morning, you call a special number. There are two questions: What kind of juice do you want? And do you want coffee or cafe au lait (tea comes in tea bags and hot water). After answering these two questions, the room bell rings a while later. You give a tip and tuck into your breakfast. In my case, it consisted of freshly squeezed orange juice, cafe au lait, and a bread platter. That's it for a continental breakfast. Of course, there are several types of bread. Butter and jam are also included.

This was unusual for me as a carb-hating person, but after that, I had French food and wine for lunch and dinner, and didn't eat bread, so the simple bread in the morning was refreshing and seemed to be the perfect run-up to the huge amount of fat and protein that was to follow. It didn't seem like high-end bread, but it was really delicious. It wasn't the same as the croissant mentioned earlier, but it had an extra flavor like the croissants from high-end boulangeries in Tokyo. It only had butter and salt, and the rest was just the taste of the dough itself, but it had a strange sweetness to it. I ended up eating everything, including the baguette, croissant, and Danish. There were no eggs or sausages. Still, I was satisfied with the satisfaction.

Perhaps it was because I was in Paris. It would be impossible to have French food and wine every day for at least a week in Japan. In that case, I would like to have a small amount of bread, egg dishes, and sausages. I would also like to have delicious coffee. However, it is quite difficult to clear these requirements. Hotel breakfasts always bother me.

This month's recommended wine: "A new model of Chablis, one of the great white wines of Burgundy"

"Chablis 2020 AC Chablis Domaine Moreau Naudet" 5,300 yen (excluding tax)

We've just reached the halfway point of this course. It's getting hotter and the starter was champagne, so we thought it would be nice to take a break with a glass of white wine.

When it comes to Champagne, Chardonnay is the best, so a white Burgundy is the way to go. There are also some variations, such as Macon, which is affordable but surprisingly rich in variety, and Bouzeron in Chalonnaise, which is exceptionally appellationed in Aligote, but here we will go with either Montrachet or Meursault from Beaune, or Chablis, which are the two great wines.

So, rather than relying on the Cote d'Or, I chose Chablis here. Chablis, located in the Yonne department, an exclave in the north of Burgundy, produces wines rich in minerals thanks to its special limestone soil that is mixed with fossils of oysters and shellfish called "Kimmeridgian".

Not long ago, the standard saying was "Chablis goes well with raw oysters." Chablis, due to its high latitude, is known for its strong acidity and crispness, while Montrachet and Meursault are considered to be more appealing due to their full-bodied flavor rather than their acidity.

However, in reality, Chablis produced in classified vineyards often has a mild acidity and an elegant style, while the natural Chablis produced in recent years due to the organic boom makes use of the fruitiness rather than emphasizing the acidity, so Chablis also offers a wide variety of wines to enjoy.

Stephane Moreau Naudet of Moreau Naudet, who we will introduce this time, is highly regarded as one of the three great new generation Chablis winemakers along with Alice et Olivier de Meurs and Patrick Piouze. Stephane, who took over the Domaine in 2004, makes Chablis that is different from the typical hard citrus-like wines with strong acidity, and is said to have an appealing "very lively minerality mixed with juicy and sexy fruitiness."

In addition, the late Didier Dagueneau, who made a name for himself in the Loire region with his wine "Silex (Flint)" from Pouilly-Fumé, helped design the label, which suggests that Mr. Stephan's wines have the qualities to represent French white wines.

Please take this opportunity to enjoy a new era of Chablis.

For inquiries about the wines introduced, please contact AVICO Co., Ltd.

Biography Osamu Seki Born in Tokyo in 1961. Currently a part-time lecturer at Meiji University and other institutions.
He specializes in contemporary French thought and cultural theory, and is a director of the Reefer Wine Association.
His books include "An Introduction to Beautiful Men" (Natsume Shobo) and "My Neighbor is Arashi-kun" (Cyzo), and his translations include "How Should We Read Foucault?" by Oksara (Shinsensha) and "Mr. Pydrow, What Use Is a Gastronomic Critic?" by Pydrowski (Shinsensha).
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