TTT2019: Day 41--Imperial Palace and Robuchon

Awoke to a view of Mount Fuji:

Breakfast at the Tokyo Westin started with a long wait in line, for Golden Week does this.  My meal was again over the top, for we won't eat again until Robuchon:

This is the day of ascension for Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.  So, of course, we had to visit them at their residence, the Imperial Palace.

We never saw the royal couple, but want on to Daiso for some shopping.  I took this photo because almost everywhere you go in the world, there are signs of no photography, especially in Japan.  However, smartly, here is what Daiso says:

What is Daiso?  The store that replaced the 100 Yen store, which is still around.  Back on the JR to Ebesu Station, I just had to take this photo of everybody doing something with their smartphones, sitting or standing:

Took a bath in my Tokyo Westin room with a Johnny Walker Platinum (at least I poured it out of that bottle) on rocks, then went to the Executive Lounge of a martini with gin and cognac:

Joel Robuchon passed away last year at the age of 74.  He was named Chef of the Century.  At one time he had 32 Michelin Stars, the most ever.  I've been to his Robuchon in Las Vegas and a number of L'Ateliers throughout the Orient.

A quarter century ago, Robuchon joined the opening of the Tokyo Westin and Ebesu Garden Place.  I've been to this Michelin 3-Star restaurant half a dozen times, and each time was a memorable experience.  That the establishment happens to always be just below my room no doubt was why I keep coming back, for the cost is ridiculously high.

In most ways, this location is home for me in Japan.  I've probably stayed at the Tokyo Westin a 100 different times, four just on this trip in TTT2019.  I still have a bottle of Nikka  Yoichi 20-year old in Compass Rose here.  This was the whiskey that a decade ago was selected, in Glasgow, as the best single malt whiskey in the world, while Suntory's 30-year old Hibiki took the best blended whiskey award. 

So Mystery Lady and I spent our final dinner in Japan at Robuchon, starting with these appetizers:

All the Chateau Lafite Rothschilds were priced beyond $1000, so we selected a Japanese Meritage:

Just the butter is a show here:

Several caviar dishes:

Note the gold atop the caviar.  The foie gras with artichoke was remarkable:

She had the lamb and I the duck, so we shared a piece each:

The cheese trolley was tempting:

The desserts were  too much and kept coming:

After that amazing mousse and raspberry sherbet, the real dessert cart came:

I was so saturated, but had a sliver of chocolate pie and something else.  Then the petit fours.  Normally, you have a plate of tiny candies.  Here:

You select whatever you want, and I want to forget what I had.

Chef Michael Michaelidies came by for a chat, and a photo was taken with Maitre d' Sahbi Musy:

We were presented with a signed menu and bag of more goodies:

At the end, they both walked us to the elevator, which led to an underground walk back to the Tokyo Westin.  What service, what cuisine, what an experience.

The next day, the Tokyo Westin wished me goodbye:

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ROBUCHON IN TOKYO: My Best French Dinner?

Across the street (view from my room above) from the Tokyo Westin is what was once Taillevent-Rubuchon, but is now only called Robuchon.  He has a dozen restaurants and has more Michelin stars than anyone.  At the age of 28 he was the youngest chef to earn 3 stars.  His only three star restaurants today are in Macao, Las Vegas and the one I went to tonight.  There are 27 Michelin 3-star (no such thing as 4-star) restaurants in Japan, 37 in France and 11 in the USA.  He was named chef of the century in 1989.  He mentored Gordon Ramsay, who you know from TV's Kitchen Nightmares.  Joel Robuchon actually retired 15 years ago at the age of 50 and is coasting, but doing well.

I began the evening with a  Kir Royale at the Westin, then walked over to Robuchon at 1800.  The first photo is the butter serving:

I had a set menu of 8 courses and Hanawa served as my personal interface:

The rolls were heavenly.  I ordered a 2006 Grand Cru Riesling Schlossberg (13%) and 2003 Chateau Tour-Serab Joel Robuchon Bordeaux (13.5%), which were poured into connoisseur Riedel glasses:

The Amuse Bouche was an anchovy lemon olive cream concoction:

At 1830 I was still the only customer.  The lobster appetizer was replaced by a warm potato salad with black truffles.  Different, but as good as Doris' (Pearl's sister) and Zippy's.

Then came the foie gras with bamboo shoots, cabbage and foam.  Exceptional.

Forty-five minutes, and I'm still the only customer.  At 1850, a couple joined me into the corner to my left.  Next was a Japanese whitefish, L'Amadai, with assorted vegetables:

I loved it.  Just after 7PM we were up to four tables, each in our own corner.

The next course was wagyu beef from Ibaraki.  I asked for a Geiger Counter, but they assured me that the meat had been aging for a while on site here.  Hanawa is from Ibaraki and I commiserated with her about the situation in her home town.

The vegetables were par-cooked and perfect, while the steak was as good as you can get anywhere.  It melted in my mouth and had that pleasant fatty texture and taste.

With a Bruno Paillard Champagne (12%) I finished (I thought) with blue cheese and two desserts, one mango and fig on strawberry jelly, and the other, sherbet on passion fruit and pear.  This came with expresso and coffee.

And just when you think it's over:

I ordered one of each, which elicited a laugh, so I don't think he took me seriously.   I selected the following:

As stuffed as I was by then, this might have been the highlight of the evening.

No question this was a 3-star restaurant, and, perhaps, the best French meal I've ever had.

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Tropical Cyclone Bune at 50 MPH formed south of Fiji, but will move away and soon attain hurricane force winds.  It appears to be headed nowhere important at this point.

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ROBUCHON'S IN TOKYO

Joel Robuchon, a quarter ago, was named "Chef of the Century," and he is five years younger than me.   He first retired at the age of 50 in 1995, but then decided to open restaurants around the world.  He chaired the latest edition of Larousse Gastromique and operates a dozen restaurants.  His cuisine is, actually retrogressive, harking back to the earlier days of French cooking before nouvelle cuisine took over.  He has accumulated 28 Michelin Stars, five at his Tokyo establishment, which I can see from my room at the Tokyo Westin:

Mayumi and Tadashi Matsunaga joined me for a drink at my Executive Club.  (Two years ago, David Block and I dined at Robuchon's Las Vegas.)  We then went across the street to Robuchon's, a three Michelin Star restaurant on the third floor.  On the second floor is his medium class, Two Star dining floor.  Our 3-Star floor is decorated in black.  Here, we are having a 2007 Chateau Pichon-Longueville Pauillac:

Our dinner began with a white asparagus light foam over orange jelly:

Those sticks of asparagus look real, but that is but a photo.  I might add that just the serving of bread and butter is an event:

Next came red turnip and radish served with a scallop carpaccio and lemon dressing:

What a work of art, and the caviar is Ossetra from Russia.  The pan fried foie gras was accompanied by spring cabbage and bamboo shoots:

However, this was duck liver, not goose, from France, and the quality lacked the sparkle of the best.  A kind of Japanese snapper, Amadai, was the most outstanding dish, for the write-up indicated, cooked with "his" scale over a lily bulb yuzu scented broth.  What this was was a chunk of fish french fried so that the scales were crispy, while the flesh was juicy.  The texture was astonishing:

The main entrée was Spanish roasted pork done teriyaki style with a soft polenta and parmesan cheese accompaniment with an endive salad:

There was a pre-dessert, then the real one, a chestnut parfait with blackcurrent filling, coffee and almond meringue:

We finished with Calvados and expresso:

This will be my best meal on this trip, and certainly the most expensive.  We all then ended the evening at Tadashi's favorite karaoke bar in Roppongi.

For the record, while the evening was most enjoyable, we did discuss a new pathway for the Blue Revolution, with details to hopefully be released in the near future.  President Matsunaga two decades ago was the first, and only, International Professor for the Blue Revolution, when he spent his sabbatical at the University of Hawaii.

Today, I caught the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto:

Frankly, I was surprised how clear the scene looks, for there was a very heavy haze, sort of reminiscent of Beijing air pollution.  There were no obvious clouds, but the Sun never shone through.  The Westin Miyako has a shuttle pick-up at Kyoto Station.  On the 25-minute drive to the hotel I noticed cherry blossom trees here and there, but the peak has obviously passed.  View from my room:

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