TOKYO, Nov 28 — The gap between Tokyo and the rest of the world’s gastronomic scene has widened, after Michelin inspectors bestowed the city with a new triple Michelin-starred restaurant.
In the latest edition of the Michelin guide for Tokyo 2019, French fine dining restaurant L’Osier was promoted to the highest tier of the guide, which denotes exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.
At L’Osier, chef Olivier Chaignon creates Franco-Japanese dishes like Aka Ushi, Wagyu beef served with potato, watercress puree, caramelised shallot, red cabbage with black currant and red wine sauce, and abalone cooked in butter, topped with shiso flowers, seaweed and sea urchin broth foam.
For the first time, inspectors also admitted an Okinawa ryori — Japanese vegetarian Buddhist cuisine — in the restaurant selection with Ryukyu Chinese Dining Tama, along with an onigiri restaurant with the addition of Onigiri Asakusa Yadoroku.
Onigiri are rice triangles often wrapped in nori.
Inspectors also gave a star to Sobahouse Kinirohotogisu, making it the third one-starred ramen restaurant in the city. Tokyo is the only city in the world to have starred ramen restaurants.
“Michelin publishes the guide in many of the world’s major cities but Tokyo is just extraordinary due to the variety of cuisine on offer, both Japanese and international, and its huge number of starred and Bib Gourmand establishments,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guides, in a statement.
“I have no doubt that this fact alone will encourage tourists to continue to visit Tokyo to experience the vibrant culinary scene.”
Overall, the 12th edition of the Tokyo guide features 484 restaurants, 73 of which are new.
The city also retains its position as the city with the highest number of starred restaurants in the world, with 230 addresses.
Tokyo’s Michelin count:
13 three-star restaurants (1 new)
52 two-star restaurants (3 new)
165 one-star restaurants (29 new)
254 Bib Gourmand restaurants (44 new)
2 Ryokans and 33 hotels (2 new) — AFP-Relaxnews
