Several years ago I went to a fabulous new restaurant in Paris called Hiromatsu, a small, intimate place lauded for the inventive French cooking of its Japanese chef. The day of our visit I savored course after course of artfully presented dishes, and was wowed by the talent of Hirotoshi Hiromatsu. In fact, I was so enamored of French fare prepared with subtle Japanese accents that my husband and I returned to the restaurant when it moved across town to larger quarters in the 16^th arrondissement.

Last winter when two different friends, both enthusiastic food lovers, mentioned that I should try Sola, a new Left Bank place headed by another Japanese chef, Hiroki Yoshitake, I didn’t waste any time reserving for lunch. The meal was so special that I featured the restaurant in the Out and About section on my website in February. 

This summer while in the French capital, a young American couple who live and work in Paris and who adore the Japanese chefs there, suggested that we book at La Table d’Aki, a recently opened spot