"Stories of the life and times and food of Akira Hirose, who died Sept. 26 at the age of 70, were flowing last Saturday night at the Little Tokyo restaurant Azay, which the chef opened in 2019 after many years running the Franco-Japanese Maison Akira in Pasadena."
"Many of the dishes on the three-course menu, with a few optional add-ons, were interpretations by chef Chris Ono of classic Hirose dishes, including a beautifully cooked Chilean sea bass with ratatouille, couscous and lemon beurre blanc."
"But it was a surprise opening course - vichyssoise with a pop of dashi-cured ikura, chive oil and 'herb popcorn' - that set off my own memory bank."
"A spoonful of the smooth, cool soup took me back not only to Hirose's cooking but also to another chef's soup that was my first encounter in the 1980s with the style of cooking that became known as Franco-Japanese cuisine."
Collection
[
|
...
]