Maison opened in September run by Chef Sota Atsumi who rose to fame working at the Clown Bar. The place is interesting in that the ground floor only has lounge furniture and the bathroom, all the dining is on the second story that is open to the area below. Most of the diners sit at one long table in the middle of the room. There are a couple tables next to the edge and 7 seats at the bar looking into the long open kitchen. Chef Atsumi was in the kitchen cooking and looking over plates but never came out to visit with guests. The restaurant serves only a tasting menu chosen by the chef and it changes regularly. At lunch it was a 5 course tasting and there was a supplemental cheese course offered. There is a large skylight above the area so in the daytime between that and the windows from below that open to the street, there is plenty of light. I do wonder what the temperature variations might be, though. The tables are bare wood set with a white cloth napkin and comfortable chairs and music is in the background. The walls and floor are tile and the kitchen has a wood burning oven.
The tasting started with Les Tartelettes. They all had a delicate and flakey crust. One was a pumpkin and comté cheese and it was nice. A roasted onion, hazelnut and smoked ricotta one was mildly flavored with most of the taste being braised onion. The last one was beet and haddock.
Bread service was a round loaf cut into sections. It was made with chestnut flower and served with butter. It was good.
The second course was Mediterranean line caught Blue Fin Tuna with arugula juice, loquat and capers. This was a really strongly flavored dish and a good combination of ingredients.
Button mushrooms were plated with monkfish in a vinegar and mussel sauce. The fish was cooked perfectly with a tender chewiness that is a lot like lobster. The foam was tasty and the mussel flavor good in the creamy sauce. It was mild overall but still good.
The leg and breast of roasted Mesquer pigeon was served with a gravy/sauce made with bone marrow. It was plated with charred leek and persimmon purée. It was served alongside a salad of endive. Also on the side, the pigeon organ meat was mixed with foie gras and served on pasta. The breast was cooked rare and was tender with no hint of liver. The leg meat was also moist with a good grill flavor. The persimmon sauce was sweet yet pungent. It was good but overpowered the pigeon. The leek was good but hard to cut. The endive salad was nicely bitter and dressed with concentrated citrus and enhanced with great croutons. It was really good.
Dessert was three things. A clementine sorbet was with Greek yogurt and balsamic oil and topped with meringue. Apple was with vanilla and pear liquor ice cream. It was tasty but I couldn’t detect the pear. The third portion was a French pastry Kouign Amann, that is a pastry with caramelized butter, sugar and salt. This was a fabulous rendition. It was yum x3. Gooey, crunchy, buttery goodness that was served warm.
A final treat was a waffle filled with black sugar. It was good but hard to follow that incredible pastry.
