Masque’s Head Chef Varun Totlani walked in wearing a t-shirt that proclaimed ‘87% Veg’, a nod to Chef Hiroyasu Kawate’s plant-forward philosophy at his two Michelin-starred restaurant Florilège in Tokyo. “Meat and seafood play a supporting role at Chef Kawate’s restaurant,” explained Totlani. I glanced at the 11-course menu, which didn’t give much inkling of what was to come. However, even my non-vegetarian degustation featured cryptic dish names like ‘soybean’, ‘cactus & aloe vera’ and ‘celeriac & squid’.
Chef Kawate opened Florilège in 2009, won two Michelin stars in 2019 and five years later, was voted by his peers as the recipient of the Inedit Damm Chefs’ Choice Award, as part of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023. Seated at his long table, guests are treated to exceptional Japanese ingredients elevated through innovative French techniques, with an emphasis on seasonality and sustainability. Masque has been India’s Best Restaurant for four consecutive years at World’s 50 Best, currently ranking no. 19 in Asia and no. 68 in the world. Here, Chef Totlani boldly reimagines the idea of India’s culinary landscape through local ingredients and techniques. Naturally, when these two stalwarts got together in the kitchen, there was magic at the table.
Of course, it wasn’t an easy task to integrate two such distinct cultural identities on a single plate. “It’s difficult to incorporate elements from both sides equally, so we took one of the cultures as a base. To collaborate, we incorporated the other’s culture into disassembled parts or appearance, or into some of the materials,” explained Chef Kawate. Consider the takoyaki, a ball-shaped snack made of wheat flour, which reminded me of paniyaram. It was filled with minced octopus (as is typical), but amped up by the addition of goda masala, a coconut-based spice blend that’s often used in Maharashtrian cuisine. One of the most interesting dishes featured otoro (fatty tuna), aloe vera, karonda, and cucumber compressed with gongura, all poured over with a flavourful wine-coloured jus of nagphani or fruit of the Indian cactus.
Then there was the classic Japanese okonomiyaki (savoury pancake) reimagined as a dosa. Stuffed with cabbage and BBQ pork, it was topped with tamarind tonkatsu sauce, drizzled with curry leaf emulsion, and finally sprinkled with malgapodi (gunpowder chutney). It was an explosion of flavours and textures, and quite possibly my favourite dish of the menu.“It challenged me creatively to marry a Japanese-inspired dish with some quintessentially Indian flavours,” said Totlani. Watching Chef Kawate in action and working with the Florilège team was also a wonderful experience for him and the Masque kitchen. “It was fascinating to watch Chef Kawate relook at Indian ingredients and adapt them to his dishes. For instance, his choice of adding sliced mango ginger on the squid and celeriac cheesecake was a really inspired idea,” he added.
The meal was ably complemented by a curated cocktail menu where Japanese ingredients took centre stage, whether it was the eminently drinkable concoction of Patrón Reposado tequila, dark soy, and orange blossom or the complex blend of Grey Goose vodka, smoked longan, and lavender, or the rather refreshing tequila, grapefruit, and gari mix.
The dessert course was Chef Kawate’s signature chocolate omelette done in classic French style — smooth, silky exterior enveloping a melty, soft-scrambled style filling, all rendered in Peruvian cacao. “Chef Kawate made 42 of these omelettes himself, with the same patience and precision for each,” said Totlani. It was a truly decadent way of ending a fantastic meal where the flavours of India and Japan came together on the plate seamlessly.
