Esterre Palace Hotel TOKYO Fusing French cuisine with Japanese ingredients, Alain Ducasse’s new outpost offers a refined dining experience in a setting inspired by nature. Words: Mandi Keighran Photography: © Takaaki Ito (unless otherwise stated)
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astronomic tourists flock to Japan for the cuisine – a cornucopia of national and regional delicacies, from steaming bowls of ramen and simmering pots of
shabu-shabu to exquisite slices of sashimi. With the opening of Esterre, a new restaurant at the Palace Hotel Tokyo by renowned chef Alain Ducasse, it’s French cuisine – albeit reimagined with Japanese ingredients – that may soon top the must-visit list for foodies visiting the capital. “Japan has a lot to offer in terms of superb ingredients from the earth and from the sea,” says Ducasse, who has accumulated a veritable constellation of 21 Michelin stars over the course of his career. “Applying French culinary techniques to great local produce makes an extraordinary mix.” Think octopus from Aomori served from a grill at the table with potatoes, capers and sage, or vegetables from Saitama and cooking jus with coffee from Paris. This crafted blend of Japanese and French influences is not only the inspiration behind the menu, but also the elegant interiors by Japanese studio Simplicity. Esterre – with Chef de Cuisine Martin Pitarque Palomar at the helm – replaces Palace Hotel Tokyo’s previous finedining restaurant Crown, which offered a more traditional French dining experience. “It was similar to what other hotels were doing and we wanted to offer something different,” says Mika Kim, the hotel’s Associate Director of Marketing & Communications. “By using Japanese ingredients, it becomes
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