TakaHisa x La Cime: A Collaboration of Japanese Peaks
La Cime came to re-imagine TakaHisa's much-loved tasting menu and the result is a palpable example of why the Personality of the Chef is (almost) everything.
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Long-time readers know TakaHisa has a soft spot with me. It’s a seriously good Japanese restaurant. Fancy and will inflict a Fight Club-level thrashing on your credit card, but—wow—is it delicious, and sources some of Japan’s finest ingredients, from Wagyu to Hokkaido uni, and more.
I reviewed TakaHisa fully over a year ago. Heck, someone even plagiarised that review. (What’s that saying about imitation and flattery?) I also penned words about some of TakaHisa’s previous standout collaborations like Maido, Sushi Kibatani and Le Cinq.
TakaHisa now hosts La Cime: an Osaka-based restaurant with two Michelin stars under its belt for the last 12 years. Even this La Cime collaboration brought something new to TakaHisa—and Dubai’s de riguere collab model.
Your typical kitchen collab
Usually, with collaborations, you see one of two things.
With the first (and most common) model, each kitchen serves its dishes. The guest serves its signature dishes; the host might experiment with some new dishes for a loyal crowd—possibly dishes that the host is toying with putting on their menu in due course—and, hopefully, the menu comes together like a zip. Diners get a glimmer into the guest kitchen’s menu and cuisine. It is often a sampler from which to decide whether to visit the guest restaurant in the future.
(In my experience, this first model is the set piece practice for collaborations in Dubai, except for Ossiano, where Chef Gregoire Berger and his team will often create new dishes to match the cuisine and energy of the guest chef. Ossiano is audacious that way. Gregoire’s efforts usually pay off, and I respect this approach tremendously. I fondly remember the Ossiano x Puyol collab where I spent my 40th.)
Many times, I have packed bags and made a special trip to a visiting chef’s restaurant, such as Lido 84, Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler and, most recently, NAAR (although the last two chefs were at other restaurants during the collaborations.)
The lesser-known model involves chefs creating new dishes only for that collaboration, drawing on their combined perspectives and styles.
I experienced this at a 6-hands in Ein Prosit at Osteria Altran, where two Italian chefs and a Japanese chef, Zaiyu Hasegawa (3 chefs, hence it’s a “6-hands”), produced something deeply special and memorable. A menu that climaxed in a spontaneous ovation in the restaurant.
It was that good.
About La Cime, Osaka
To be candid, I never heard of La Cime until this collaboration. Japan eludes me. It’s a place that I covet. It loiters at the top of my bucket list. I want to wander here for weeks like Ryu, searching for purpose (ramen, sushi and more). If you have any tips, please let me know.
La Cime is led by Chef Yusuke Takada, who trained in France and returned to Osaka, forging the restaurant’s reputation of using Japanese ingredients with French techniques. La Cime means “the peak” or “summit”, reflecting Takada’s ambitions. In the restaurant’s words:
We think of three most important factors of our restaurant as the three peaks of a triangle formed by; “guest”, “cuisine” and “space”. We believe that only by bringing these three peaks in balance, supporting each other and shaping a perfect triangle, could we come closer to achieving the very best performance at each moment… And with our creation we will take you through the mind of “稽古照今 - Keikoshoukon”. “稽古照今 - Keikoshoukon” is a phrase from the oldest Japanese chronicle Kojiki, meaning “meditating upon antiquity to find a guide to present”.
Takada’s signature dishes at La Cime include “Boudin Dog,” a playful interpretation of the classic French blood sausage inside a light bun. He also incorporates foie gras with Japanese citrus flavours like yuzu and sansho pepper.
And with this context, Takada brought his perspective and personality to TakaHisa.
TakaHisa x La Cime shows what Personality of the Chef really means
Takada decided to recreate some of the classic TakaHisa dishes through his perspective, showing that the chef’s personality, outlook on food, and interpretation of dishes and ingredients drive the dining experience.
The chef’s personality is one of the pillars of Michelin’s awards. The idea is that a chef’s personal touch, creativity and individuality are showcased on the menu and throughout each plate.
I found this approach quite exciting and welcome other chefs to do the same. I wonder which other chef would hand the reigns over to a guest chef to recreate their menu and serve it in their restaurant to their guests.
This was a nine-course tasting menu, and the sushi omakase course also featured six nigiri bites and one temaki. Oh, and Dom Perignon Brut 2013 as an aperitif and palate tickler.
As a photo diary, here is a quick rundown of the dishes. I will highlight and spend time on those that really stood out to me as my absolute favourites. To be clear, there were no bad dishes! Some will live longer in my memory and I choose to loiter around those.
Shiromi Truffle. Matsukawa flounder sashimi with shishito pepper and citrus sauce. The shishito pepper and citrus sauce were Chef Takada’s key reinterpretation of the otherwise classic TakaHisa dish.
Kobe Beef Shabu Shabu "Naniwa" Hummus. Lightly boiled Kobe beef with hummus sauce. I never expected to eat hummus in a Japanese fine-dining restaurant (and I was cynical going in), but the brightening addition of yuzu to the hummus brought balance.
Kobe Beef Carpaccio with Shrimp Miso Sauce Thinly sliced fresh Kobe beef with shrimp spice miso.
Awabi Green Tea Sauce. Steamed Japanese abalone with special green tea sauce, and pomegranate sushi rice. Another Takahisa classic of the steamed Japanese abalone is usually served with a creamy, complex uni and soy sauce developed by chef Taka, but the addition of the green tea sauce incorporating courgettes and soy was a very different Spring-like take. The pomegranate with sushi rice will be a divisive pairing for some (but it works well with Nuits Saint Georges Pinot Noir!)
Iwashi & Vegetable Kobe Beef Stew. Kobe beef stew with vegetable bouillon thoroughly simmered for 18 hours. This was the Dish of the Day for me taking lightly grilled sardine and pairing it with impossibly soft beef cubes in an unctuous broth.
Kuruma Ebi & Kobe Beef Katsu Sando. Shrimp delicately wrapped in Kobe beef cutlet with savory cream sauce.
Sushi Omakase: Botan shrimp, Lean tuna, Fatty tuna, Horse Mackerel, Blackthroat seaperch, Sea urchin, and Conger eel. As always, it is a highlight and masterstroke to include these smaller bites. The uni, conger eel, grilled sea perch, and fatty tuna stood out. These were all tied for my third favourite dish of the day.
Chef’s Specialty: A very light ramen broth of fish, beef, and chicken that has quite a pork-like flavour—something also exciting in Dubai!
Dessert. Verrine fig with hoji tea syrup. This is my second favourite dish of the day. Give me fresh figs, cream and this beautifully floral and fragrance hoji syrup. An absolute revelation and masterclass of simplicity.
Separately, I do not want to waste the opportunity to show below that TakaHisa is featured in two prestigious guides (above). However, it is notable that TakaHisa has yet to be awarded one star. This omission remains glaring to me, and I can only speculate as to why. I also hope it will move to three Toques.
You can find
is here on Substack, Instagram and Threads.Note: I was invited to Takahisa, meaning this exquisite lunch was comped. It is pricey at 3000 dirhams per person. As always, I think it is essential that you are aware of when I’m invited to dinners out of transparency and fairness to you, the reader.
That omakase, tho.... Sad I had to miss this one -- I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend.
Love a fruit based dessert. 3000 a person means it might be time to send our dog and cats to the circus. They sit around all day.