La Scène Thélème was opened in 2016 by Jean-Marie Gurné, hoping to make it a refuge for the lovers of pleasure as homage to the Abbey of Thélème.  The Scène comes in as a reference to the dual nature of the venue with the intimate theatre attached to the restaurant.  Chef Yoshitaka Takayanagi runs the kitchen that tries to merge Japanese and French influences.  The large place ambled through a number of rooms and our room held the small stage adorned with natural art.  Bench seating was along some walls that faced the small white cloth covered tables.  Being in the room with the stage our ceiling was dark with carpet on the floor whereas other rooms had lighter paint and wooden floors.   Art of straw hung from the ceilings and music was in the background.  At dinner they offer tastings of 5, 6, or 7 courses and wine pairings are available.  A caviar supplement was offered and we declined. I’d call it a mixed meal. They have one Michelin star.

Set-Up

 

Food

Three amuse bouche were served quickly.  A tart of ling cod and seaweed was seasoned with lime.  The shell was not crisp, but it had been a rainy humid day, but was otherwise good.  A Japanese gougere was chewy and a bit gummy with cheese flavor.  A carbon puff was made with smoked eel, which was not very strong tasting with a sweetness on top.  It was the best of the 3.

 

Chawanmushi with peas and wild garlic started the tasting.  It was topped with pea shoots and garlic which dominated the flavor profile.  It was quite cold and thus the custard lost some of the textural goodness it often has.  It did have lots of peas.

 

Bread service was a small round loaf that was slightly warm with a crisp crust and dense interior.  No butter was served but the bread had good flavor.

 

White asparagus was with crab and yuzu kosho.  Olive oil was the dressing and the flavors here were quite mild.  The crab meat was sweet and tasty but the asparagus were slightly earthy and bitter.  This one was only okay.

 

Yelllowtail fish was with koshihikari rice and yuzu butter.  The buerre blanc sauce was lovely and wonderful with the rice.  The fish was cooked nicely with the skin being quite crisp, but it was strong for my tastes. However it easily peeled off.  The sauce made this dish.

 

Bresse Chicken was with shaved foie gras and morel mushrooms.  The morels were seasoned with white garlic and the chicken was more of a sausage.  A good poultry sauce was well reduced and went nicely with the morels.  It was savory.

 

Sweetbreads topped with buckwheat scales, crepe sparassis and Roscoff onion were the last savory dish.  The scales were actually very crisp and adhered well to the sweetbreads.   The mushroom sat on spinach and the Roscoff onion was creamy and great mixed with everything.  This was a tasty plate.

 

Pre Dessert was a green shiso sorbet with Perrier jelly.  Lime and green apples were tasty and the jelly did have the pop of being made with sparkling water.  This was tart and refreshing.

 

Pavlova of strawberry, apple, vanilla ice cream and shiso syrup.  Crisp rice chips were on top. Meringue dust was under the ice cream.  A slightly different take on a classic but it worked and was very good.

 

Last treats were a tart of popcorn which did taste of popcorn.  In the middle was a baba of chocolate and caramel that was very soaked on the bottom and picked up a ton of the nibs underneath.  It was drippy, messy and not that sweet.  Lastly was an infusion of hibiscus mixed with lots of spices and curry.  It was okay.