Beefstake: At The Peak Of Its Taste

The equivalent of “Star Wars” in gastronomy, “Michelin” reveals the best restaurants in its eagerly anticipated guide every year. Although it is subjected to various opposing trends, it is still The Oscars of the food world. Surprisingly, this year, “San Sebastian” in the Basque region of Spain lost its throne to a new one: Baiersbronn, a little village in Germany. Despite the fact that some avant-garde restaurants and this village which left behind the rest of the world with its seven Michelin-starred restaurants and have changed the trending places in the gastronomy world, my compass always points the same direction:Japan.
Japan cuisine proves its point in my humble opinion with its characteristics almost like worshipping the things offered to us by Nature and avoiding desecrating their cuisine with manufactured products; always promoting their national culture and in parallel to that, always seeking the better and the new with its monozukuri culture. That of course brings a 281 Michelin-starred restaurants only to Tokyo itself.

Mixing their simple ingredients through their simple techniques to create fabulous flavors, most of these restaurants serve in the basement or on the ground floor, sometimes even without their names in any anywhere noticeable. They have an unpretentious and simple ambiance, even though they might be covered in stars. The number of tables mostly doesn’t exceed 10 in these restaurants whose customers are generally the insiders of the gourmet world. They do their best to serve the natural and the fresh to their customers that come in small numbers.

Today when we talk about Japan cuisine, most certainly our sentence will start with “sushi” accompanied by horseradish wasabi and then will go on to mention “sashimi” delicacy that consists of “unagi,” “fugu” and maybe Nodoguro, Anago, Ottoro. Whereas, mark that you forget to mention something about this culture that turns its food into an art piece with its “kaiseki” style befitting an island country cuisine: wagyu.

Dons de la Nature
During one of my business trips, I got the chance to eat at Dons de la Nature which is a typical Japanese restaurant and one of the popular spots that serve wagyu beef. Opened in 2005 by Chef Yoshiji Otsuka, it is located in an office block in the city center. When you step for the lift, you can’t help but thinking “Where in the world did I come to?” Following the entrance which doesn’t look aesthetic at all, you will face the modest atmosphere with only 7 tables, covered with starched, snow-white tablecloths and embellished with the flower sakura.

When I looked at the kitchen countertops on which probably the most tasteful meat of the world is cooked, a double-deck “robota grill” with an iron casting drew my attention.
In restaurants, I generally skip the menus and directly get the opinions of the chefs. For that matter, although Dons de la Nature has a great variety of seafood in its menu, my order was obvious: beefsteak.

Accompanied by a junior chef, Otsuka brought a big chunk of meat to the table and cut it out of the part and in a size according to my choice again. The restaurant has three serving sizes for beefsteak: You can choose between 400, 500 or 600 grams of servings.

While I was waiting, they brought a bowl of green salad to the table. Although it didn’t have any outstanding features or ingredients, it was a great start with its freshness. Again, as my habit of doing in every restaurant, I bring this bowl of salad to life with a fresh lemon and some olive oil.

When the beefsteak cooked by the junior chef under the supervision of Otsuka was brought to the table, it was my turn to get a bite from this highly-praised taste. With every bite like a flavor bomb thrown against the palate of my mouth, a question echoes in my mind: “Either this thing in my mouth is not a piece of meat, or the things I’ve eaten as meat until that time were not really meat!”

The thin veins of fat in the beefsteak which was cooked over the fire of oak wood, only with some rock salt and black pepper made it into an art object with all the juice locked inside. It just melt away in my mouth. For this reason, we skipped the dessert part to quit while we were at the top of this orgasmic taste accompanied by a bottle of Bordeaux wine.

Following the meal, Otsuka guided us to the cold store where humongous veal entrecotes, sirloin steaks were hung to keep frozen and he gave information about my order: the beefsteak from the Miyagi region. It looked like pastırma, like something jumped out of a painting. The meat was aged 32 months with the “Dry-Aged” method in which the meat is hung up dry to diminish its moisture and break down its enzymes. During the process, for the meat lost 30% of its moisture, its flavor becomes immensely concentrated.

When one think about the time and the money lost during the stages of the technique, he can see why these beefsteaks are sold with high prices. If we are asked to specify the prices; one 400 grams serving costs 600$. But bear in mind that a size that weighs 400 grams is almost more than enough for two people.

When the restaurant’s emptied, Otsuka did not only let us smoke our cigars, but also came to talk to us with a bottle of “Yamazaki” in his hand. Listening to the information that Otsuka gave to us was as pleasurable as the flavors cooked in his kitchen.

For this unforgettable taste, on my next business trip, my new destination will be “Aragawa Restaurant” which is even more ambitious about this savor.
Hope to see you in my next article,

Bon Appétit and enjoy the taste of life!

http://dons-nature.jp/

Japan, 〒104-0061 Tokyo, Chuo, Ginza, 1 Chome7−6, 河合ビルB1F

+81 3-3563-41