For the first ever Atelier Nespresso in Asia, leading chefs Tetsuya Wakuda and Yoshihiro Narisawa worked with a spectrum of coffee to create a world of flavour.
"You should not miss cocktails in Tokyo,” Tetsuya Wakuda tells me. “They’re the best in the world, and lethally good. Bartenders here think about every detail, from the ice to the glass.” It’s just as well that less than 6 hours after landing at Haneda Airport, I’d already tasted three—crafted by three respected Japanese bartenders, including an exquisite Dassai sake, Cointreau Noir and Nespresso coffee cocktail fashioned by Yuichi Hoshi of Ginza’s Bar Hoshi—in the very room we were chatting.
It was the the end of an epic first night in Tokyo, where two of the world’s most respected icons of Japanese cookery joined hands to craft a gustatory journey inspired by a rather unlikely ingredient: coffee. And so this is how we found ourselves at the heart of Happo-en (Garden of Eight Views), where Atelier Nespresso set up its new—albeit temporary—Japanese home, a tribute to creative gastronomy.
It was the first time the coffee brand brought its culinary pop-up to Asia, which was previously held in European cities such as Antwerp, Berlin, and Lyon, bringing together top chefs and sommeliers to present a gustatory experience for fine dining lovers. For the inaugural event in Japan, Hong Kong-based chefs such as Ricardo Chaneton of Petrus, Mutaro Balde of Bibo, and Tim Lai of Tim’s Kitchen also came along to experience the meeting of two masters, as well as a convoy of restaurateurs, hoteliers and journalists from around Australasia.
For anyone who relies on a strong cup to jolt the senses in the morning, the concept of utilising coffee in haute cuisine may be met with a hint of scepticism. But incorporating the ingredient was not so much of a stretch for either Narisawa or Wakuda, who saw coffee’s multifaceted characteristics a rich starting point for a number of dishes.
