Ristorante da Fiore Tokyo

▪️Ristorante Da Fiore (Omotesando)
▪️Chef's Lunch Course (¥7700)

It is rare that a restaurant can convey a distinct sense of character through a multi-course meal, as effectively and coherently as Da Fiore does.
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Here, the philosophy of the chef is not advertised boastfully on social media or through excessive tableside storytelling. Rather, the ingredients are allowed to speak for themselves. The chef's versatile cooking techniques, the beautiful pottery in which the dishes are served, the subdued colors of the interior embroidered with the greenery of countless plants; they all seem consciously chosen as vessels to help the ingredients express themselves better.
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Indeed, the meal begins with the presentation of these ingredients in their raw form. Within the kaleidoscopic colors of numerous in-season vegetables, there are no A5 Wagyu or truffles to be found. This is a demonstration of the chef's confidence in the humblest of ingredients he procures, or rather in his ability to let these ingredients shine through his cooking.
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The dishes contain only minimal touches as to not distract from the core ingredients. The turnip soup is at its purest form, not even dashi is used. The kanburi is served in a pure kinkan sauce with gentle citrus, no salt is added. But no other plate expresses the chef's intentions better than the dish that consists solely of 6 different vegetables, all cooked to perfection. From the cauliflower to the radish, they are rendered at their most ideal, as if they jumped straight out of Plato's Realm of Forms.
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The chef doesn't shy away from meat dishes either. The main dish of deer is cooked exquisitely and served with a gentle balsamic sauce & abundance of herbs that undercut the gaminess perfectly.
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Besides being delicious, all the dishes in the course simply feel good for the body and the soul. Even the risotto is executed in such a way, with the genius addition of asparagus and lily bulbs, that it does not feel heavy at all.
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In this restaurant, the chef cooks with utmost respect for his ingredients, and for his customers. That, is the distinct character of Ristorante Da Fiore. Less