On a night in June 2026,I hurriedly walked from Roppongi Station to Ao, my first visit in three months. I rushed up the spiral staircase and managed to take my usual counter seat right on time.The delightful aroma of the first dish, a consomme, wafted through the air.I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve visited Ao, but each season brings a new experience, and every time I savor the refined flavors of the ingredients, it sends a tingling sensation from my tongue to my brain. This is what Chef Minemura’s high-freshness cuisine is all about.On this day, I thoroughly enjoyed the high-freshness dishes starting with the consomme and ending with the petit fours.The usual consomme featured eel, and I relished the rich aroma rising from the bowl before enjoying the concentrated umami of the eel on my palate. I felt grateful to have the red sea urchin fedelini again this year, and I wanted to savor every drop of the Chinese sweet sake sauce left on the plate, along with the delightful texture and flavor of the abalone.Particularly outstanding were the red shrimp and Tajima beef. It’s not just the quality of the ingredients but also the skill of Chef Minemura that brings out these exquisite flavors.It felt like a two-hour escape to a paradise.The courses for the evening were as follows:◇ Ehime: Eel Consomme◇ Fukui: Chilled Fedelini with Red Sea Urchin◇ Nagai: Grilled Black Mutsu with Straw Rice and Chinese Sweet Sake Vinaigrette◇ Sado: Black Abalone with Homemade Butter White Asparagus from Korobokkur Village◇ Nagai: Red Shrimp with Bisque Freshly Baked Brioche◇ Kanazawa: Hairy Crab Risotto◇ Mishima: Corn Gold Rush Soup◇ Inatori: Local Kinmedai and Snap Peas◇ Oishi: Early Harvest Granita◇ Ueda Livestock: Charcoal-Grilled Tajima Beef (41 months old) Kamo Eggplant from Kamigamo◇ Hamamatsu: Angel Sound Mask Melon◇ Domestic Cocoa Ganache and Jelly◇ Grass-Fed Jersey Milk Ice Cream◇ Petit Fours & CoffeeNext time, in summer.It was a great meal.
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