Omasake

And the award for best sake bar performance goes to… Omasake in 2001, A Taste Odyssey, directed by Paul Dupuy, Damien Melon, Ismaël Emelien and Jean Dupuy at 27/4, the temple to Japanese culture that’s also home to Sushi Yoshinaga. In keeping with the rest, Sala Hars studio designed this retro-futurist capsule all decked out in copper, concrete and neon lights, where sommeliers Chloé Conan (ex-Pavillon Ledoyen) and Ilona Melnyk (ex-Jin) have put together a remarkable selection of sakes, umeshus, shochus and Japanese whiskies. In the starring roles: a Juyondai Honmaru sake from Takagi Shuzo, one of the rarest in the world (€1,415 for a 180 cl bottle), or a more affordable Zaku Impression N sake by Shimizu Seizaburo Shoten (€14 a glass for 80 ml). And in supporting roles, six seasonal cocktails (like the Wakocha Sour with Roku gin, sweet potato shochu, wakocha black tea syrup, lemon and lime – €21) and around 15 plates dreamt up by chef Tomoyuki Yoshinaga himself: a club sandwich with fried chicken, ginger and slow-roasted tomato, plus a side of roasted new potatoes and nori (€23), lean tuna sashimi topped with a fatty tuna tartare and Ossetra caviar (€34), etc. // Frances Lo