After gaining immense popularity in Hokkaido, Hasegawa Minoru relocated to Hiroo in Tokyo, Japan in 2018. The opening was highly anticipated with reservations 2 years out evaporating almost immediately.
Hasegawa-san prides himself on being a businessman before a chef. He is a self-taught chef that has used his popularity to build an empire in Tokyo over the course of the past 6 years. Aside from his namesake restaurant, he supports a dozen or so other restaurants and endeavors to educate young chefs and feed his passion.
Hasegawa-san runs his namesake restaurant two days per week with his second chef taking over the rest of the week (as Kaoru Hiroo). This meal was a lunch course with Hasegawa-san at the helm.
His most popular dishes, kinmedai and beef filet, lived up to the hype. I now think back to those dishes anytime I encounter the same ingredients at other restaurants. The highlight dish for me was the Ezo Deer Cutlet. I’m a jibie fiend, and this dish was life-changing.
The sommelier team runs service and provides some of the most genuine, attentive service I’ve experienced in all of Japan. It felt like we were being cooked for in our own home. At the end of the course, they shared a lengthy tasting of whiskies that they were contemplating adding to the dessert courses. We left that day very happy and intoxicated.
by m046186