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Posts tagged ‘Wolfgang Puck’

Jul 27

A Little Slice of Tokyo comes to London’s Park Lane

Sushi Kanesaka at 45 Park Lane hotel, London

I’m greeted by an elegant okami-san and led along a tiny but perfectly formed corridor of stone flooring flanked by cedar wood walls to beyond a noren where a counter is immaculately set up for dining. So far so Tokyo except I’m in London, tucked away on the first floor of the 45 Park Lane hotel.

This is Sushi Kanesaka the newest outpost from Japanese chef Shinji Kanesaka whose impressive restaurant empire spans several Michelin starred venues in Tokyo including his flagship two starred Ginza Sushi Kanesaka. He has also opened restaurants within five star hotels in Asia including at the Carlton and St Regis hotels in Singapore (which have one Michelin star apiece) and at the Palace Hotel, Tokyo.

Sushi Kanesaka at 45 Park Lane hotel, London

Opening on July 1st Sushi Kanesaka at 45 Park Lane in Mayfair will be Kanesaka’s first restaurant outside Asia and I’m visiting during the soft launch for a preview. The London establishment seats just nine at the main counter as well as a further four in an adjacent private dining room. An omakase (“I’ll leave it up to you”) menu of around 18 courses will be offered at two dinner sittings from Tuesdays to Saturdays at the set price of £420. Perfectly paired sake to accompany the dishes will cost a further £150 to £220.

Up until now London’s most expensive set menu has been at The Araki (which also has a branch in Hong Kong) at £310 per head for the sushi omakase, according to UK restaurant guide Harden’s. And in its 2023 guide Harden’s decreed the most expensive in Britain to be at Ynyshir a restaurant with guest rooms in mid Wales serving a tasting menu with Japanese, Chinese and Thai influences cooked over fire at £375 per head. By this reckoning Sushi Kanesaka will now have the UK’s most expensive set menu.

Shinji Kanesaka trained under the legendary chef Takashi Saito of Sushi Saito in Tokyo and continues to follow his Edomae style of sushi using cured fish rather than raw for optimum flavour. Core ingredients such as wasabi and rice will be shipped in from Japan (Kanesaka has his own blend of rice from Yamagata prefecture) while fish will be sourced from Europe including the UK such as Cornish crab and Scottish lobster. All the fish will undergo the Japanese ikejime method to ensure the best quality. 

Sushi Kanesaka at 45 Park Lane hotel, London

From their seats at the counter – carved from a solid piece of hinoki wood as in Kanesaka’s other outlets – diners will be treated to the artful performance of the shokunin’s crafting dishes before each exquisite creation is carefully presented before them in succession. Mainly sushi as the restaurant name suggests but interspersed with steamed, grilled and fried dishes such as chawanmushi with fish soup, binchotan gilled kobe beef and ebifurai of lobster. And as is traditional with omakase, rounding off the savoury courses with a bowl of miso followed by seasonal Japanese fruits such as the most divine melon and mango from the Miyazaki prefecture.

Inside this calm oasis the stylishly simple décor of pale woods will be familiar to diners who’ve eaten at other Kanesaka establishments. A subtle reminder of the destination though is the woodwork panels featuring designs inspired by Hyde Park opposite the hotel on the other side of Park Lane.

The personable Kanesaka has been in London preparing with his team for the launch and will be in situ at the 45 Park Lane restaurant three to four times a year.  The eight strong London team of chefs, sommeliers and hosts are mostly recruited from Kanesaka’s existing restaurants. 

Sushi Kanesaka at 45 Park Lane hotel, London

The sushi artisan says he’s chosen the British capital for his first restaurant in Europe as “London is recognised world over as the epicentre of high end dining”. He also points to the attraction of 45 Park Lane, and the Dorchester Collection of hotels which it belongs to , having a stable of internationally renowned chefs and Michelin starred restaurants. 45 Park Lane is already home to Cut by Wolfgang Puck – the US based celebrity chef’s first in Europe – while sister hotel next door, The Dorchester, houses the three Michelin starred restaurant Alain Ducasse.

While Kanesaka is opening his first outpost in Europe, the Dorchester Collection which also has hotels in Paris, Italy and Los Angeles has announced plans for its first hotel in Asia. Based within the Torch Tower in Tokyo, the tallest building in Japan with panoramic views of the bay, the city centre and Mount Fuji, the hotel is slated to open in 2028.

Jun 28

A Cut Above: a Taste of Chinoiserie on Park Lane

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Cut at 45 Park Lane

[UPDATE: Wolfgang Puck is bringing his signature Asian French fusion dishes from his Santa Monica restaurant Chinois to Cut at 45 Park Lane, London for a pop up celebrating the restaurant’s 35th anniversary. From today until 30th June the menu, featuring Asian flavours fused with French techniques, will include Shanghai lobster with curry sauce and whole sizzling sea bass with ginger and ponzu sauce. As well as an a la carte lunch there’s two tasting dinner menus – six courses priced at £115 per person and eight courses £165 per person including a welcome cocktail.]

Wolfgang Puck, one of the most famous of the world famous chefs, is reflecting on how times have changed for his profession; “When I moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s I used to go to discotheques,” he recalls. “Once I asked a girl to dance, she asked me what I did for a living and I told her ‘I’m a cook’. When the song was over, she left! Nowadays that scenario probably wouldn’t happen.”

He is more than likely right – since then chefs have become celebrities and Puck has become as famous as the stars who flock to his LA restaurants. Though the native Austrian, who learnt to cook from his mother and trained at Michelin starred restaurants in France, is not entirely comfortable with that either.

“I don’t like the name celebrity chef but I think that television has put chefs in the public. Television has really helped elevate our profession. I think it’s great because this has become an important profession, before it wasn’t,” he says. “Fifty years ago, you probably wouldn’t know who the chef was anywhere. Now chefs are like rock n roll stars.”

But for Puck, whose empire includes Cut, Spago and Chinois restaurants around the world, being a great chef still comes down to learning the basics. “The funny thing is, a lot of these television people, they don’t know how to cook,” he says. “I did a programme a few years ago where I asked the six chef contestants to make me an omelette. And you know what? None of them could make me a good omelette. That’s the problem with a lot of younger chefs today – they don’t start with the proper foundation.”

wolfgang-puck-credit-amanda-marsalis

Wolfgang Puck

“Learning how to cook is like learning how to paint,” he continues in the first of many arty analogies (he has said that he would have liked to have been an artist if he hadn’t been a chef). “When you learn how to paint, you learn how to mix colours. Cooking is the same. If I have ginger, garlic and scallion, a dish would taste more Chinese. If I add basil and remove scallion, it would taste more Italian. When you really boil it down, it’s really not that complex. That comes with experience and, of course, a full understanding of the basics.”

Having mastered the basics, Puck eschews recipe books for his own instincts. “I know a certain flavour I want to have, then I try to get there my way. I don’t want to look at a cookbook to find how the Chinese, Indian or Vietnamese make it, I want to make it my own style,” he says.

“It’s just like writing a song, or painting. If you paint like Picasso nobody cares but if you created your own style, people would say, ‘oh, that’s interesting.’ Or if you’re a singer and you sing Lionel Richie songs all day long, you’re never going to become Lionel Richie – no matter how well you sing it. It’s the same with food – you can use lamb, fish, whatever but you still have to create a dish out of it your way.”

It’s an ethos that Puck encourages from the head chefs across his restaurant empire. “I create two lines here, and I let the chefs operate in between these lines. They have been working with me for many years, so they think like me anyway. But I want them to be creative, I want them to add something of their own to the menu.”

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Steak at Cut

At Spago Singapore, the first in Asia and Puck’s second restaurant at Marina Bay Sands in the city state following Cut, the global fusion elements he describes can be found on the menu alongside American classics. “I opened Spago in Los Angeles in 1982 and then I opened Chinois in 1983 – essentially I opened an Asian restaurant but not in the traditional way. I made it my style,” Puck says.

The global menu at Spago Marina Bay Sands includes versions of two Singapore specialities: kaya toast and laksa. “We take something that’s already popular here and make it our own. And people still like it!” says Puck. As well as the luxurious versions of foie gras kaya toast and lobster laksa available at dinner, there’s a chicken “laksa” spring roll on the lunch and bar bites menus.

Big Eye Tuna Tartare

Big Eye Tuna Tartare at Spago

As well as the dinner menu, Spago has several lunch options to choose from depending on your mood and time allowance. Alternatively, a compact selection, still offering signature classics such as the tuna tartare cones and hand cut agnolotti, is available in the terrace lounge and at the al fresco rooftop bar. Perhaps to go with a cocktail or two although Puck prefers champagne. “I drink cocktails but not too much. With champagne, I can drink a whole bottle and still feel fine.”

When it comes to his own tastes Puck says he prefers strong flavours including chilli and spices in his food. “For me, French food is too subtle. One or two French dishes are fine but if I had to eat eight, I’d fall asleep.” While he has often tried chilli crab and fish head curry in Singapore these days he likes to stick to his own restaurants in Marina Bay Sands. “Even in my home country I go out less than I used to,” he says. “Here, if I want to have a really good meal I ask my chefs to cook me something.”

Although, or perhaps because, Wolfgang Puck has a couple of Michelin stars under his belt, he seems unfazed by the launch of the prestigious restaurant guide in Singapore later this year. “We don’t open a restaurant with the aim of earning Michelin stars. I know what I should do if I wanted to get the stars – open a restaurant that serves only 30 people a night and prepare 10 or 12 course meals. But I would only get people who try us once,” he says.

“For me, the stars are our customers,” he continues. “They are the ones who are going to come back, they are the ones who pay me and the rest of the people. So if the Michelin Guide gave me three stars but I have no customers those stars wouldn’t mean anything. I’m not saying Michelin stars are useless, but the most important thing for me is taking care of the customers.”

Great hospitality is a recurring theme for the chef and restaurateur. He sees good service as just as vital as good food. “Like any major city today, Singapore has a lot of great restaurants so to set ourselves apart we don’t just focus on the food. I think it’s important that people get recognised, that people feel like they are at home,” he emphasises.

“Yesterday at Cut, I saw a German family who has been living in Singapore for 40 years. I remember them from last time I was here. They came up to me and said, ‘Oh, it’s so good to see you again. We come here at least twice a month.’ That to me is more important than earning Michelin stars.”

[A version of this story was originally published in 2016]

May 23

Some thoughts on the first Singapore Michelin Guide

Michelin announced the first selection of the MICHELIN guide Singapore 2016-2

The Michelin Star winners in Singapore

[UPDATE: The Michelin Guide Singapore will be announced on June 29th 2017 at The Fullerton Hotel. The event will include a five course dinner with dishes created by the chefs Seita Nakahara of Terra, Singapore (one Michelin star), Jason Tan of Corner House, Singapore (one star), Tam Kwok Fung of Jade Dragon (two stars), Macau and Curtis Duffy of three Michelin starred Grace in Chicago.]

Before the inaugural Michelin Guide Singapore was launched on July 21st I was sure of two things: that at least one hawker stall would gain a star and that Joel Robuchon would be awarded three. The former because I could see the headlines about “the world’s cheapest Michelin starred restaurant” pinging around the world (and so could Michelin, I’ll wager) and the latter because Robuchon tends to collect three Michelin stars around the globe as naturally as breathing.

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May 14

Star Chefs on the Rise in Hong Kong

PG in Central (mid res)

Pierre Gagniere in Central, Hong Kong

 

[UPDATE: Chef Pierre Gagnaire’s will visit his Hong Kong restaurant from October 24th to 30th 2019 to Hong Kong to launch his autumn tasting menu. The five-course menu will be available for lunch and dinner from 24 to 30 October 2018 at HKD1,998 per person.]

Hong Kong is set for another influx of Western celebrity chefs as Yannick Alleno’s long awaited bistro, Terroir Parisien, is slated to open in Central this summer, Bjorn Frantzen has opened Frantzen’s Kitchen and Jean-Georges Vongerichten has returned to the city with Mercato. David Thompson and Wolfgang Puck are also thought to be searching for sites here. But Asian expansion doesn’t mean guaranteed success: Mario Batali’s Carnenvino has closed in Hong Kong, Gordon Ramsay shut his restaurant in Tokyo and both Guy Savoy and Jason Atherton shipped out of Singapore. So what makes some international restaurants thrive in foreign markets while others falter?

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Jul 23

Some thoughts on the first Singapore Michelin Guide

Michelin announced the first selection of the MICHELIN guide Singapore 2016-2

The Michelin Star winners in Singapore

Before the inaugural Michelin Guide Singapore was launched on July 21st I was sure of two things: that at least one hawker stall would gain a star and that Joel Robuchon would be awarded three. The former because I could see the headlines about “the world’s cheapest Michelin starred restaurant” pinging around the world (and so could Michelin, I’ll wager) and the latter because Robuchon tends to collect three Michelin stars around the globe as naturally as breathing.

And so, as you’ve probably heard, Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle and Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle became the proud recipients of a Michelin star apiece while Joel Robuchon clocked up another three stars for his fine dining establishment in Singapore (read on for the full list). All announced, in a world first for Michelin, to much fanfare: a songstress in glitter crooning When You Wish Upon a Star and dancers in chefs uniforms waving giant forks and spoons. Even the three star reveal had some drama: director Michael Ellis teased us at first that not every location was worthy of three Michelin stars before announcing he did indeed have a red envelope and that it was not empty.

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