It’s no exaggeration to say that Shinobu Namae, head chef of the highly coveted L’Effervescence in Nishi-Azabu, owes some of his fame to Kazunari Nakamura. The Michelin-starred master’s right-hand man for years, Nakamura struck out on his own in 2014, taking over La Bonne Table – a casual alternative to his very fancy former haunt. The jovial cook has earned many a fan with dishes such as the artistic shiitake mushroom boudin noir narazuke, all made with ingredients delivered fresh directly from farms and fishermen.
His harmonious symbiosis of Western and Japanese flavours is made by cutting small slits into the stems of the mushrooms, baking them until fragrant, and then combining these with boudin sausage and vegetables pickled in sake lees. While everything packs a punch, there’s more to La Bonne Table than flavour. Nakamura is dedicated to ecological eating, using ingredients and cuts of meat that might be discarded at more expensive places.