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I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kyoto anymore! A European-style Kyoto Vegetable Lunch

2016/01/29

I was strolling leisurely down Sanjo Street on a recent day off from work when I happened across a wonderful little restaurant: Café Bastille.

This modest shop, situated among Kyoto machiya-style buildings on a longitudinal street, seems to exude an alluring presence. At first glance, you’re hard-pressed to discern whether it serves French or Italian cuisine. A sticker reading “Magic Restaurant” on its store sign is a favorable hint... I make up my mind and push the entrance door open.

The door is decked with stained glass and a cowbell. The restaurant atmosphere is relaxed. With seven counter seats and about seven tables, it’s neither spacious nor cramped—just the right size—and European cakes and knickknacks are found near the entrance. Tempting dry-cured hams and cleanly polished glasses line the counter, giving me the impression that wine would taste good paired with even just this atmosphere alone.

I look at the menu and see the five lunch options: the daily special, baguette sandwich lunch, soup lunch, quiche lunch, and the limited gnocchi lunch. The day’s gnocchi flavor is shrimp and Kujo green onions with white wine butter sauce. There’s no way that can’t be amazing. Without hesitation, I order the gnocchi, which happens to be limited to only 15 servings per day.

Lunch includes homemade bread, salad, an entrée, and a beverage. All the items served at this café are hand-made, and the chef even bakes the bread each morning. My warm sesame bread is chewy and filled with sesame seeds when I peak inside, smelling softly of cheese.

The salad greens are just delicious. This restaurant is based on the concept of “safe meals,” using only organic vegetables grown and purchased directly from local farmers in Kyoto and Shiga. At my age, I’m able to now truly enjoy the bitterness of vegetables; after all, the combination with the homemade dressing is to die for! The dressing is made from honey and mustard, among other ingredients, and having enjoyed it so much, I ask the chef about it who then tells me that they sell bottles of the dressing for home use! (I shamelessly purchase one.)

And now for the grand finale: the gnocchi. The plate is so steamy that I can’t get a great picture, but the balance of the colors is superb: the red of the shrimp, the green of the onions, and the yellow of the sauce. The gnocchi is substantial and seems that I’d get tired of the taste halfway through, but the flavor is just so good that such notion is destroyed. The delicious texture of the shrimp makes me not care to dirty my hands peeling the shells. The Kujo green onions are tender, and the gnocchi itself has a wonderful flavor. Eating each ingredient by itself is delicious, as is pairing different ingredients together. I experiment with different ways of eating, also trying the bread when dipped in the sauce.

Serve cold foods while still cold and warm foods when still warm. It’s a no-brainer in the world of gastronomy, and this restaurant strictly adheres to that rule. The salad plates are thoroughly chilled, and the milk served with the post-meal milk tea is properly warmed. It seems easy, but few places pay as much attention to detail. The food, the atmosphere, and the service are all to a tee. It is a wonderful restaurant that satisfies your soul as well as your stomach!

The café I visited is the sister store of the head location, osteria Bastille. It was a truly delicious restaurant, so next time I think I’ll visit the head location! (FYI, this restaurant says that they serve both French and Italian foods that they find delicious.)

★Website★
http://bastille.jp/

株式会社KINSHA