At Charbon Kunitoraya, the thin slices of black truffle hide “a chicken wing with perfectly grilled skin”

Masafumi Nomoto is a master in the art of first times. In 1991, freshly arrived in Paris, the chef from the prefecture of Kōchi, located in the island of Shikoku, in the far south of Japan, was already the first to open an udon restaurant, these large wheat noodles shaped by hand, which we suck noisily from the bottom of a broth, in the Japanese district of rue Sainte-Anne.

At the time, his Udon Bistro Kunitoraya, which still exists and is always full, was the only address in the capital to offer this traditional Japanese dish. In the meantime, the Kunitoraya brand has become a reference for all lovers of the Archipelago’s gastronomy. But, since the beginning of January, in his last restaurant, baptized Charbon, rebelote, the chef invites the curious to live an unprecedented experience in France: a menu entirely dedicated to the tasting of yakitoris, the famous Japanese skewers.

“You have to see the chef carve up the poultry, like undoing a puzzle, before mounting the selected pieces at the end of a bamboo pick with his expert hands. »

Nothing to do with the ersatz yakitori, cooked in a hurry, found in take-out sushi restaurants. Here, the approach is gourmet, authentic and anything but cheap. The composition of the yakitoris (which literally translates to “grilled birds”) gives pride of place to exceptional products, such as eel, Kobe beef and sweetbreads, or explores, as at the moment, the anatomy of the Bresse pullet, Rolls of poultry. Cooking is done over a hearth fueled with binchōtan, a variety of traditional charcoal, from Kōchi, with exceptional heating precision, the mastery of which is a matter of ancient know-how.

The storefront of the Charbon Kunitoraya restaurant.
The Charbon Kunitoraya restaurant next to the dining room.

Seated at the counter facing an open kitchen or around two masterful birch wood tables, guests embark on a culinary journey of more than two hours. In the kitchen, for Masafumi Nomoto, each menu sequence is a pretext for a new dance. You have to see the chef carve up the poultry, like undoing a puzzle, before assembling the selected pieces at the end of a bamboo pick with his expert hands. You must then watch him sprinkle the skewers with sake, from the end of a spray bottle, before putting them to caramelize slowly, seasoned with a pinch of fleur de sel.

Memories of a BBQ

Once under the eyes, the plates are, at best, a delight, at worst, an excellent discovery. Here, for example, under a few thin slices of black truffle, we flush out a chicken wing with perfectly grilled skin. Bringing it to your mouth is like suddenly bringing back to your lips and fingers the memory of a barbecue by the fireplace in a country house.

Barely a few seconds later, on the same plate, we let ourselves be surprised by a furisode yakitori. The skewer, made from a piece of poultry located between the breast and the wing, very popular in Japan, is both fatty and dry, alternately tender and crispy. On the palate, the meat with a sweet burnt aroma offers a game of textures that is still inexperienced. And here we are stung, condemned to rediscover the taste of this very, very first time.

Coal Kunitoraya, 5, rue Villedo, Paris 1er. Tuesday to Saturday, dinner only, at 7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.
Single menu at 120 euros. Reservation required on kunitoraya.com

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