L'ETERRE

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🇫🇷 French / 📍 Kagurazaka

📓 Visits: 1

All the background on the chef and this new opening is here.

First three amuse.  #1 a fairly underwhelming new onion soup.  8/10.  #3 Tempura buri with cheese and lemon gel.  Hard to score.  I don't like lemon with fish and the cheese topping might not as well have been there.  Fried fish is always good but there was nothing here that really elevated it.  But amuse #2 was a knockout.  Firefly squid that had been lightly grilled and set on top of a fresh pea tart with tomato.  The peas had been peeled and halved (as they should be in fine dining).  The ingredients were of superb quality.  10/10.

The first starter was carpaccio of amadai, beets and caviar cream.  The fish was of outstanding quality, better than sashimi I've had in any sushi restaurant, and the other components really enhanced it.  10/10.

The next dish, despite what it looks like, was not the contents of a gentleman's underpants but Loire white asparagus, oyster and clam sauce.  After eating the asparagus and oyster we were all left with a pool of sauce.  I was half expecting them to spoon in some rice but alas the manager had made a mistake and served the dish with a knife instead of a spoon.  8.5/10.  The carpaccio was always going to be impossible to follow and this was a dish that wasn't better than the sum of its parts.

Another fish dish was next: Spanish mackerel, Inca Awakening, capers, tomato sauce.  Very strong flavours from the sauce and proper potatoes that perfectly complemented the fish.  9.5/10.

Bread is from nearby Pain des Philosophies, arguably the best French bakery in Tokyo, and if that wasn't good enough they warm it in the oven after spraying it with water and then toast it over coals before serving it.  If you want a refill you'll need to ask and you probably should, lest the excellent French butter it's served with go to waste.  They started with the best product and made it better.  It might change the way you ever eat a baguette at home again.  10/10.  Amusingly, the manager mentioned he had to queue up for the bread like everyone else.  Forgot to ask what they do when the bakery is closed or sold-out!

The main dish was guineafowl two ways.  First the breast served with negi sauce and onion.  The sauce really enhanced the meat which was moist and exceptional in quality.  But the portion was very small.  9.5/10.  The leg was served diced in rice with ginger and snap peas. I felt this was a waste of the meat.  You could have refills but the dish lacked richness, was not better than a kaiseki restaurant that specialises in takikomi gohan and I go to French restaurants in Japan to escape rice, unless, perhaps, it's risotto.  8/10.

A trio of desserts.  Strawberry tart was excellent.  10/10 had you bought it from a patisserie but in a restaurant a dessert needs to be more than something that could be shop-bought.  The tasting of Comte cheesecake I rated 9/10 and the ice-cream 8.5/10.  Coffee (probably Nespresso) was served with a freshly-made financier and a chocolate truffle that could rival the best chocolatiers in Paris.

If it hadn't been for the rice I would have booked my next visit there and then.  Lunch was JPY 16,000 until May when it went up by 2k.  Dinner is JPY 26,0000.  But it's the same number of courses, the difference being slightly more expensive ingredients at dinner and perhaps risotto instead of takikomi gohan.  Desserts in the month I visited were identical.

The quality of ingredients here is outstanding and the cooking the same.  Flavours are as robust as a proper French bistro but dishes have the refinement of a 3-Michelin Star Paris restaurant.  The best dishes were as good as it gets.

Apart from the other criticisms I mentioned the overarching one would be the relative simplicity of the food.  If you're looking for a demonstration of techniques on a plate and sauces that take 3 days to make you won't find that here.  That's partly because the restaurant has adopted the 'Japonaise' style of showcasing the best quality ingredients with French technique, rather than obliterating them into something else.  But also because there are only two chefs in the kitchen.  This also contributes to the length of the meal.  It's a simultaneous start at lunch with up to ten diners to serve (9 on my visit) and the meal was fairly slow.  Bread was not served until after the fish courses.

Despite the open counter the restaurant lacks a little atmosphere.  The head chef quietly introduces each dish, not necessarily addressing the whole room.  The restaurant manager lacks a little presence as well.  Hopefully they can gain some confidence front of house as time passes.  In fairness, on my visit the chef was faced with five lone diners and mentioned he was nervous.  It was like spot the Michelin inspector!  Special mention to 25-year-old sous-chef Kunihiro-san who had the skill of a chef beyond his years.  He stood shoulder to shoulder with the head chef and is someone to look out for in the future.  No English is spoken and the menu is presented in Japanese only.  Ventilation needs improving.

Compared with Naoto.K it's less food, the dishes are simpler, the desserts are not as good but the ingredients are even better quality.  Compared with Sezanne the dishes are less modern, less rich and less creative but, with the exception of the fish, there's not much to pick between quality of ingredients.

Overall this is one of the best French new openings in Tokyo in recent years.  I'd recommend a visit before (another) price rise.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1309/A130905/13281616/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.45

📱 Booking: 🟩 Omakase only up to 2 hours before service.

📍 Location:

3-6-53 Kagurazaka.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.
Map data ©2023 Google

📶 Free WiFi? ❌ No

📅 Visit March 2023

12:11 New onion pottage
12:18 Hotaru ika, peas, tomato, pastry
12:28 Buri tempura, lemon gel, cheese
12:43 Amadai, beets, caviar, cream
12:55 Loire white asparagus, oyster, clam sauce
13:10 Sawara, Inca Awakening, caper, tomato sauce
13:33 Guinea fowl breast, negi, negi sauce
13:47 Guinea fowl, snap peas, shoga takikomi gohan
14:09 Strawberry Tart / Comte 24 Months Cheesecake / Exotic Sorbet
14:19 Coffee (or tea), financier
14:19 Chocolate truffle

💴 Damage: 20,680 (16000 + 2 drinks @2800 + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 2h30m