logy
Add: 1F, No.6, Lane 109, Section 1, Anhe Road, Daan District, Taipei
台北市大安區安和路一段109巷6號1樓
Tel: (02) 2700 0509
Website: logy.tw
Price: Tasting Menu 3,750 TWD, Pairing 1,750-2,750 TWD
Visited: April 2022
Visiting logy has always been a delight, but the 2021 winter menu was the first to lure me back for a second time during the same season. Chef Ryogo Tahara’s cooking has been evolving over the years since the restaurant first opened in November 2018, and serendipitously it seems to be moving in the direction that fits my personal taste…
Naturally I looked forward to the 2022 spring menu, which turned out to be wonderful as well. The highlights are the quintessentially spring ingredients – fukinoto, white asparagus, peas, loquat…These are extraordinary little treats, better, to my mind because their prime season is so short.
Here are my favorites from the menu.
Hokkaido scallops / fukinoto / celeriac bavarois / reduced Aomori apple juice with lavender oil / caviar
Fukinoto, also known as Japanese butterbur, is a wild vegetable commonly seen throughout Hokkaido, the hometown of Chef Tahara, and is often the first sign of spring as it bursts to life as soon as the snow melts. In this dish, fukinoto’s bitter flavor is combined with the buttery sweetness of Hokkaido scallops, a soothing celeriac bavarois, some diced Granny Smith for acidity and crunch, a dollop of caviar, and just a hint of lavender. A full on ensemble of flavors presented subtly, like spring itself.
Tile fish tempura / white asparagus & tarragon with sumiso / beurre blanc sauce
And what would a spring menu be without white asparagus? Chef Tahara dresses them lightly in sumiso, but not a traditional one – he chooses white balsamic vinegar for its sweetness to match that of the white miso, and dots the mustard on the side so diners can dip at will, experiencing different layers of flavors rather than one homogenous taste from the first bite to the last. As accompaniments, deep-fried tile fish and beurre blanc sauce provide some grease and weight to keep the dish on the ground.
Taiwanese local vegetable tart / 36 month Parmigiano reggiano
In a tart shell, some petits pois à la française (spring peas stewed with pancetta, onions, and chicken stock), green asparagus, and Brussel sprouts bath in an hollandaise sauce, topped with edible petals and herbs. The tart is then covered in freshly shaved 36 month Parmigiano Reggiano, like last winter’s snow melting to reveal the fresh blooms below…very poetic.
Smoked bonito / fried rice with glutinous rice and hazelnuts / coffee & mushroom soup
This was perhaps my favorite dish of the evening. Translucent, glistening slices of smoked bonito draped over glutinous rice pan-fried with butter, red wine vinegar, vinaigrette sauce and chopped hazelnuts. It is then drizzled with coffee oil and katsuobushi mushroom soup. It tastes even better than it sounds! I devoured the bowl with glee and greed.
And here are other dishes from the menu:
Amuse bouche: onion meringue, fromage blanc cream, shrimp tartar marinated with passion fruit and Thai fish sauce, mango, fermented radish (老菜脯) powder.
Chawanmushi: logy’s signature dish that’s been on the menu since the beginning. Warm steamed egg topped with a salad of crab and goji berry, celery root / Angelica sorbet, and finished with a hot beef consommé. An intense juxtaposition of temperatures, textures and flavors.
Veal rib-eye: paired with saffron sauce, cardamon puree, and bone marrow béchamel sauce, a side of bamboo shoot topped with breadcrumbs sautéed in garlic butter and parsley oil.
Loquat: this fruit comes in full abundance in Spring, but we don’t often see it in desserts as its delicate flavor is not easy to capture…so of course Chef Tahara, ever the challenger, attempts every spring to coax new flavors out of this shy ingredient. This year he tops fresh loquat slices with ground cherry jam to add acidity, then surrounds it with oriental beauty tea jelly and bay leaf-infused IPA beer soup for a light and refreshing first dessert.
Sakura ice-cream: the same dessert as appeared at the Holt x logy x Moonrock collaboration, sweet and savory sakura ice-cream on a bed of chervil granite and yogurt, with an herby flavor boost from reduced Chartreuse syrup.
As always, the meal concludes with aiyu jelly with coconut jelly and cocoa juice.
Alcohol pairing of the evening for those who are curious:
Thank you team logy, for this elegant unveiling of Spring. Until next season :).
