Shimada, the owner of The Cloakroom and the editor of Gourmet News, invited me to Toi Visage, a French restaurant in Ginza 7-chome that opened in April last year and has been open for only a year. The restaurant has already been featured in this year's Gault & Millau and on the Michelin website , so I think it will get a Michelin star next year. This is very interesting. In 2017 , when the Japanese version of Gault & Millau was launched, I went around and checked out several restaurants that had won the Young Chef Award. The food at each restaurant was certainly excellent and passed the mark, but there were no restaurants that I would go out of my way to visit again. In other words, the wine, service, or the restaurant's "space" where you eat is lacking in appeal. I advocate the "equilateral triangle of restaurants," and I believe that a "space" that is well-balanced and outstanding, like an equilateral triangle, is a famous restaurant worthy of gourmet food.

I had looked at various materials in preparation for this issue of Tois Visage, but to be honest, I was worried because there were only articles praising Chef Kuninaga and I couldn't see the restaurant. However, I also got a glimpse of the owner's attention to detail, ordering the service uniforms from Shimada-san, so I was looking forward to it.

First of all, what was interesting was that although the address was the same as The Cloakroom , Ginza 7-chome, the route crossed an overpass and was drawn into the darkness, far from the crowded buildings and hustle and bustle. However, on closer inspection, I could see that it was a gourmet neighborhood, with long-established famous restaurants such as Grill Bon and Le Jardin des Saveurs nearby. The glass-walled entrance was a little unassuming, making it hard to tell that this was a grand maison, but as soon as the sommelier saw Shimada, he opened the door to welcome us, which was fitting for the start of a gourmet experience. Of course, the sommelier was casually wearing the stylish suit that Shimada had prepared for his restaurant. Although the uniforms were not the black suits of the hotel, the chefs in the open kitchen were not wearing gray jumpsuit-style denim aprons and white chef coats.

This attention to detail is clearly reflected in the fact that the menu is not the trendy style of a single piece of paper listing the ingredients; instead, when you sit at the counter and open the lid of a ceramic dish that is already placed there, you are greeted by a spread of herbs and flowers that will be used in that day's cooking, amongst which are what look like flashcards, each with the name of a dish written on it.You turn the page and insert it into a stone stand before enjoying the dish.

The number of seats is kept small, and there is a private room at the back, but it is soundproofed, and you can hear the women chatting when the door is open and the chef is explaining the dishes, so you can enjoy your meal in peace. Chef Kuninaga's dishes are delicate and each dish has a gentle taste. Shimada-san was surprised that I ate almost all of the dishes, as the portions were made smaller. The only oily dish was the "Charcoal Grilled Spring Bamboo Shoots with Bearnaise Sauce," and the bearnaise sauce with the grilled marks was light and exquisite. It is usually made with asparagus, but bamboo shoots are also good. The specialty "Extreme Enoki Sausage," which is featured in every review, was as delicious as it was. It had a rich flavor that you wouldn't believe was made only with enoki mushrooms, and the sauce made by boiling down the vegetable scraps left over from cooking was rich but not heavy and was delicious. I was also happy that the fish dish was "sole." Nearly half a century ago when I started cooking in French cuisine, sole was the standard fish dish. I am grateful that they have brought back this ingredient that had been forgotten at some point.

Also, a separate pastry chef was present to make the desserts. This style has been used successfully at the Michelin one-star restaurant Robe in Higashi-Azabu. This style was originally the style of the old grand maisons. Its origins may be due to the fact that hotels have separate cooking and pastry departments. As you know, Escoffier, the father of modern French cuisine, was the head chef of the Hotel Ritz. I was surprised to find that the head of the pastry department at the now-sadly closed Crescent in Shiba was more important than the head chef. At the time, the pastry section of the department store contained pastry sections from famous French restaurants such as Crescent and Régence. I was a fan of the opera from Régence and would often buy and eat it. The Hyuga Natsu creme caramel made by this pastry chef had an excellent texture and was a masterpiece that rivaled the food.

However, what I liked most about this experience was the excellence of the service staff, including the sommelier. The sommelier, who deliberately did not wear his sommelier badge, knew that it would not suit Shimada's suit. The sommelier has such good taste that when I told him my budget and asked for a wine from Morey-Saint-Denis that was not on the list, three bottles were prepared for me, and the one I chose from them was Georges Lignier's "Clos Saint-Denis 2009. " It is well known that Georges Lignier is able to offer Grand Cru wines at this price because of their reasonable prices. I was impressed by how capable he is, despite his young age.

The female servers also nonchalantly pull out chairs and quickly refill glasses when the water is almost gone. Perfect timing. This is possible because the restaurant is compact, but it's the most important thing. The service at Michelin-starred French restaurants in Japan, which specialize in food, is so bad that it's unbearable to look at. The sommelier serves wine from across the counter alongside the chef, and when you tell the sommelier that there is no water, he just walks right past you saying it's not his area. The servers are condescending and just lecture you about the food, with no consideration for the customers. In contrast, it is the sommelier and the female servers who stay behind the scenes and pay close attention to the customers that make the meal comfortable and memorable.

The restaurant's website states that the name "Tois Visage" was chosen with careful consideration given to the relationship between the "three faces" of guests, staff, and producers. It was a wonderful time in which this sentiment was certainly conveyed. However, for me, Tois Visage represents the well-balanced trinity of the "restaurant's equilateral triangle" - the food (chef/patissier), the wine (sommelier), and the service - that creates a harmony of "gourmet food." Either way, it's definitely a restaurant I'd like to visit again. Although it may be out of my league.

As always, thank you Shimada-san for taking me to your wonderful shop.

This month's recommended wine: "Brunello di Montalcino, the best of Tuscany"

"Brunello di Montalcino 2017 DOC G Brunello di Montalcino Fossacolle" 9,800 yen (excluding tax)

Last time we looked at Bordeaux wine. This time we will be introducing wine from Tuscany, the other of the two major Italian wine regions that are equivalent to Bordeaux, along with Piedmont. It is important to note that French wines are divided by region, while Italian wines are divided by state.

Just as Bordeaux wines can be divided into two types, left bank and right bank, Tuscan wines can also be divided into two types: local Sangiovese wines and a relatively new type of wine made from Bordeaux varieties over the last half century or so.

First of all, the traditional Sangiovese wine is "Chianti". There are various regions from the birthplace "Chianti Classico" to the wider Chianti. Others include "Vino Nobile di Montepulciano" made from Prugnolo Gentile, a subspecies of Sangiovese, "Morelino di Scansano" made from Morellino, and "Carmignano", which has used Cabernet as a supplementary variety to Sangiovese for a long time.

However, the best of the best is undoubtedly "Brunello di Montalcino" made from the Brunello grapes. It has strong tannins, takes a long time to age, and is expensive. Therefore, a lighter type "Rosso di Montalcino" that can be enjoyed casually from an early stage was also produced.

Sangiovese wines are characterized by their crisp acidity and tight style. They are the equivalent of Médoc wines in Bordeaux.

This time, we will introduce the Brunello di Montalcino from Fossacolle, which is said to own the best vineyard in the village of Montalcino. It is aged for 12 months in 50% barriques and 50% wooden barrels. Then it is aged for another 12 months in a cement tank. It is then aged for another 12 months in a cement tank. It is then aged for 8 months in bottle. It is reminiscent of the good old Brunello di Montalcino, with a heavy, bold flavor that can withstand long-term aging. It is said to have a complex and elegant flavor even when drunk now. Please give it a try.

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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