Kei: a virtuoso in the kitchen!

In Paris, Kei is undoubtedly one of the most exciting addresses of the moment. In the kitchen, the brilliant Kei Kobayashi gives free rein to his unbridled creativity. Enthusiastic!

Key Kobayashi / Copyright Julien Tissot

Some lunches leave a lasting impression on a man. After eating at Kei, you leave transformed. On Rue du Coq Heron, a stone’s throw from Rue Etienne Marcel and its clothing boutiques, nestles a little gastronomic paradise. The chef offers a tasting menu of 5 to 7 dishes at lunchtime, and 6 to 8 in the evening. The dining room is quite uncluttered. The ceiling is adorned with a sublime chandelier. The service is top-notch. Some of the staff are Japanese, including the sommelier.
We begin this culinary symphony with a lobster Gyosa. Just sublime! The tomato sauce is a perfect match.

Lobster Gyosa / Copyright Julien Tissot

The vegetables that follow form a kind of garden. The dish is very graphic, very colorful. What creativity! Kei is an artist, a painter.

Salad / Copyright Julien Tissot

The next course is a tartare of Saint Pierre with cherry and rhubarb, followed by turbot with yuzu and dry ink jus.
Between two courses, we are slipped a little grapefruit limoncello pastille.
Galician beef with peanuts and beans. The meat is tasty and the cooking meticulous. Paired with a Saint-Estèphe wine, it’s a perfect match. The restaurant is one of the few in Paris to boast a cellar of 6,000 to 7,000 bottles, with over 150 references.

Galician beef

The cheese is served in a clever syphon-poured gorgonzola and a white wine peach sauce.

For dessert, a mont blanc, yuzu and chestnut vacherin. An aesthetic masterpiece.

le vacherin / Copyright Julien Tissot

In terms of price, the bill is really reasonable for this type of gourmet restaurant.
At the end of the meal, I exchange a few words with the chef: Kei Kobayashi. I take this opportunity to congratulate the virtuoso. The Japanese-born boy is very humble, a little shy. “I want my customers to find my cuisine amazing and have a unique experience. But above all, I want them to find it very good!” he tells me.

The Kei room

It was while watching a cooking show with Alain Chapel, 3 stars in the Michelin Guide, that this son of a traditional Japanese cook had a revelation: when he grew up, he would be a chef. After his first experience of French cuisine in Nagano, he left for France to perfect his skills. With a suitcase in his hand and not a word of French to speak. At the age of 21, he moved to France to learn haute gastronomy from his masters: Gilles Goujon, Michel Husser, Christophe Moret at the Alain Ducasse restaurant and Jean-François Piège at the Plaza Athénée. It was here that he met his future wife: Chikako. Together, they worked tirelessly to renovate chef Gérard Besson’s former Michelin-starred restaurant, creating a chic, minimalist ambience in soft tones of gray, white and silver. A magnificent showcase for Kei’s cuisine. Just one year after starting work on this legendary restaurant, Kei was awarded a Michelin star at the age of 34. Today, this chef is undoubtedly the rising star of French gastronomy. In fact, this restaurant easily deserves a second macaron!

In short, I’d like to heartily recommend the Kei. You won’t be disappointed.

Kei
5, rue Coq Héron
75001 Paris
Tél : 01.42.33.14.74
www.restaurant-kei.fr
From 52 euros (lunch) to 145 (dinner)

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