[Paris] Le Clos Y

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Le Clos Y

Add: 27 Avenue du Maine, 750015 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 45 49 07 35
Hours: [Tue-Sat] 10am~7pm (7:30pm on Thu-Fri, 8pm on Sat)
Website: www.le-clos.jp/paris
Price: [lunch] €25 [dinner] €40~60
Visited on: Jul 2014

Le Clos Y by Japanese chef Yoshitaka Ikeda (previously at Guilo Guilo and Taillevent) opened very discreetly near Le Tour Montparnasse last December. It is the first European outpost of Le Clos restaurants by chef Isao Kuroiwa, based in Osaka, Japan. The style is – unsurprisingly – a fusion of French and Japanese, and very beautifully done for that matter.

The space is minimalistic and sober, a conscious effort to focus attention to the food. The highlight of the space is undoubtedly the 11-meter long cherrywood counter directly imported from Japan. Behind the bar, chef Yoshitaka Ikeda is quietly at work.

A three-course lunch at Le Clos Y is affordably priced at €25, while dinner ranges from €35  to €60 depending on the menu choice.

For the evening, we went with the €60 tasting menu and chose a natural chardonnay from Domaine Ganevat (Jura) to go with the dishes.

Dinner started with an amuse-bouche of crème d’oursin, crème de jaune d’oeuf, aubergine grillée, oeufs de hareng – sea urchin cream, egg yolk crea, grilled aubergine, herring eggs.

Second amuse-bouche: crevette mi-cuite marinée dans eau de mer, huile d’olive, sauce cognac-mayonnaise – half-cooked shrimp marinated in sea water, olive oil, accompanied by a cognac mayonnaise sauce.

First course: mousse glacée de foie gras avec sauterne, homard bleu, coulis de fraise, citron et orange et nectarine en poudre, brioche au poudre de charbon, figue en compote, émulsion gaspacho de tomate – frozen mousse of foie gras with sauterne sweet wine, blue lobster, strawberry sauce, powdered lemon, orange, and nectarine, powdered charcoal brioche, fig compote, and emulsion of tomato gaspacho.

Second course: riz de veau doré à la cannelle, sauce balsamique, purée d’asperge blanche et asperge blanche confit au kombu – cinnamon-dusted veal sweetbread, balsamic sauce, white asparagus purée and white asparagus cooked in kombu broth.

Third course: consommé à la royale, soupe épinard, petits pois – savory egg custard, spinach soup, green peas.

Fourth course: saumon mi-cuit, peau au sésame, crème de wasabi, salade de concombre et tomates noires – half-cooked salmon crusted with sesame, wasabi cream, cucumber and black tomato salad.

Fifth course: filet de boeuf Charolais, sauce madère, salsifis japonais (gobo), eringy, duxelles, légumes verts, fleur de bourache – filet of Charolais beef (interesting light taste of foie gras), Madeira sauce, Japanese salsifis (gobo), mixed mushrooms (eringy and duxelles), green vegetables, adorned with a bourache flower.

What was interesting about desserts was that each of us was presented with a different plate, and we got to try everything that the pastry chef prepared for that evening. My favorite was the rhubarbe pochée, fromage frais, compote de rhubarbe, sorbet framboise – poached rhubarb, fresh cheese, rhubarb compote, raspberry sorbet.

Soupe melon, melon mariné a l’anis et aneth, blanc manger au lait d’amande – melon soup, melon marinated with anise and dill, almond milk blancmange.

Vacherin à la fraise, mousse vanille chocolat blanc, meringue noix de coco – strawberry vacherin, vanilla white chocolate mousse, coconut meringue.

Each dish we tasted that evening was precise, delicate, delicious, and the service was up there to match. When we asked the waiter if he could give us the menu of the evening, he hand-wrote, in great detail, every plate that was brought to our table. Le Clos Y is definitely a spot to come back to, and if you are not sure about a lengthy dinner here, why not come try the €25 lunch? I heard it’s well worth it.