Passage 53
As our wedding gift, my wife's office made a lunch reservation for us at a restaurant called Passage 53 in Paris during our Europe trip in 2012.
Initially I didn't know anything about this French restaurant other than that it was one of the company founder's favourites. Googled it when I arrived in Paris, and whoa, Passage 53 had 2 Michelin stars! The head chef was Shinichi Sato, the first Japanese to earn 2 stars in France, with an all-Japanese kitchen staff (there were 2 French service staff).
The restaurant itself was very small and simple, grey wooden sign board, all curtains down, you couldn't possibly tell that the place was one of French' finest restaurants from the outside. The interior design was very minimalistic, only about 7 tables and a small spiral staircase to where the kitchen was upstairs.
The food was amazing. I never tasted anything like it before (mind you, I was a food noob, still am). Those chefs were very much like programming gods, they produced the finest food and they wanted to keep improving. If you read this interview, you'll learn how hard Sato sensei worked, at one point sleeping just 1-2 hours every day for a month.
While we were there, the strangers at the next table started a conversation with us while waiting between the meals. They were a Singaporean architect, an American designer, and a European model. It was a part of traveling that I've always enjoyed, conversation with strangers.
Someday I'll write about conversations with a Chinese video game concept artist with British accent, a Korean space mission scientist living in Tokyo, a Belgian bone transplant expert who spoke at least four languages, an Iranian steel company executive who remembered Iran beating Australia for the final spot in 1998 World Cup football.
But that's for later, for now, enjoy these pictures from Passage 53's degustation menu. Thanks for the gift, awesome company A!
