After an early morning photoshoot around Higashiyama, I walked over to Lorimer to have a Japanese breakfast. Lorimer is sister restaurant to Okonomi off Lorimer in Williamsburg. It focuses on fish, as their signage says in kanji. I got their ichiju nanasai (set of 7 things) and it was $24.42. I was craving more vegetables at this point, so I welcomed the vegetable heavy breakfast they served. They are vegetarian friendly, but like ALL Japanese cuisine and due to its use of dashi, rarely vegan friendly. I also loved sitting on the counter to see them work. While I did not make a reservation, I was one person and was quite early. You definitely should make one, as it's a small machiya like most restaurants in this area.
black sesame tofu
kiriboshi radish, basil, nuts, and olive oil
baked eggs in honey, milk, and broth
pumpkin salad with cream cheese
zucchini petite bacon pizza
white dressing use komatsuna and paprika
pickles taste of vinegar and herbs
After some rest, I headed over to Gion to window shop before my next tea service.
Then off to Rust Sabi for my tea and dessert pairings of the day. Reservations are required and you can choose the tea tasting or the tea & alcohol tasting. The teas are brewed by a tea master and the space is Japandi perfection in a renovated machiya in Gion above the most stunning clothing store/gallery space. It is a pairing of 5 teas with desserts. This is definitely more of a luxe experience. If you are a tea fanatic and enjoy things made with craft and intention, then you may want to check this out. I was enamored with their ceramics. Look at them! For some reason, I always find myself meeting the funny Germans, and that was where I met Paul and we were cracking each other up. Considering the quality of tea and desserts for this experience, I did not think that $51.79 was too high.
Then I walked around Gion to burn off some much needed calories before walking to dinner. I went into the most stunning Leica store in addition to a gallery featuring work of that had the most unusual work of Middle Eastern women painted in a unique Japanese style (no photos allowed).
I bought a cat tote.
I could not resist taking a picture of this on the main road.
For one of my dinners, I made a reservation at Lurra. I don't typically agree with Michelin stars worldwide (typically only with France and Japan, but I tend to agree with its Bib Gourmand list). I am not one to chase stars or chase reservations at places that have been featured on (insert show here). I tend to find the more exceptional places that are under the radar, but I do not shy away from places that are more well known if they are exceptional. Lurra somehow made its way onto my list and I asked my friends in Kyoto if they would like to have dinner there and they said yes. Japan is a country where you strive for perfection and never achieve it. You see it across everything you encounter there daily. While paying $340 per head (drinks included) is not a rarity for fine dining in the western world, it is in Japan and especially out of Kyoto where I can find the most spectacular meals at that price point. For those that know me well and the chefs that I regularly talk to, you would know that there is about four 3 Michelin-starred restaurants that I actually recommend and that for most fine dining my comment is typically "it's perfectly fine." Which really isn't when you are paying that much for a meal and consuming all those calories. For $340 I could have eaten at L'Effervescence again or had one of the best kaisekis in Kyoto. In fact, the best dinner I had Kyoto on this trip was less than half that and so much more special. That was why I really struggled with my meal at Lurra after giving it some extensive thought, as did my guest. The most stand out dish was the winter vegetables with mole. At that price point in Japan, EVERY single dish needs to be at least that great.
blue corn sope with avocado, smoked caviar and sea urchin
"beet on the bone" with bee pollen and vegan xo
spring bonito with sakura leaves and plum ponzu
roasted cauliflower curd with firefly squid and spring truffle
spring onion "au gratin" with morels and green asparagus
flounder with nordic chimichurri and smoked fish froth
aged wild boar with burdock root and morel mushroom
kyoto winter vegetables with mole negro and camotes
grilled inochi-no-ichi rice with teardrop peas and surf clams
cherry and mezcal sorbet, cacao and cherry tea cream
aerated sake lees with strawberry and preserved red currant
mikan orange ice cream donut
Here is the Kyoto winter vegetables and that pattern on the dish is mole negro. I did also enjoy the carrot that they put in the center of that plate. See the Instagram carousel with videos below.
I walked back to my hotel through Maruyama Park after dinner.
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