Tiny Urban Kitchen

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La Paix Brussels – Two Michelin Stars

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La Paix Brussels

“Worth a detour“ is the definition of a two-Michelin starred restaurant. Though not a normal “detour”, I did the unusual and visited this restaurant solo (despite my typical aversion to dining alone at a restaurant). It was early in our time in Brussels, back when I thought I only had 3 weeks. Unfortunately, the only available night at La Paix Brussels was on a night when Bryan wasn’t free. The concierge also cautioned to me that it could be a little unsafe at night.

Despite these minor obstacles, I still made the decision to go. In retrospect, it was well “worth the detour” to experience La Paix and all that it has to offer.

How It All Began

La Paix Brussels

La Paix Brussels is a very special restaurant.

It has a long history, though it has changed and re-invented itself during this history. Established in 1892, it was more of a casual French style brasserie that served steak frites until Chef David Martin took over in 2004. Chef Martin is originally from the Basque region and trained under French chef Alain Passard (of 3-Michelin star L’Arpege). He began traveling to Japan in 2013, learning about Japanese ingredients, techniques, and other tricks. He started incorporating these ideas into brand new menus at La Paix soon after.

Since then, Chef Martin’s creative globally-inspired cooking has received a lot of attention and won countless awards. The restaurant received its first Michelin star in 2012, and second star in 2019, which it maintains to this day. In 2019, Chef Martin was recognized as Gault & Millau’s Chef of the Year for Belgium.

The Tasting Menu – La Paix Brussels

The tasting menu is a glorious adventure of creative surprises. Because Chef Martin incorporates influences from all over the world, sometimes you really don’t know what to expect. This makes the surprises even more delightful and the well executed combinations even more impressive.

There is no a la carte menu, only tasting menus. The lunch tasting menu costs €85. There are two dinner tasting menus, one costing €165, the other costing €220. The longer tasting menu includes an extra savory course and an extra dessert. The entire table needs to get the same thing.

Starting Bites

La Paix Brussels
The first course, a crab “soup”, has a creamy, foamy coffee top, adding bitterness to the rich and creamy crab soup. In some ways, it’s almost like a savory crab cappuccino.
La Paix Brussels
A cold “crab salad” arrives next, topped with a thin slice of a pig ear gelatin. The flavors remind me of traditional Chinese marinated pig ears, but the texture is softer, like a French style terrine. On the side, a bright fresh cream mousse.
La Paix Brussels
I loved this next course, consisting of ham, miso mousse, cheese, and black truffle. A slightly sweet gel layer sits on top of the ham, like the world’s fanciest honey glazed ham. The overall mix of sweet and umami plus truffles was delicious.

Bread Course

La Paix Brussels
Butter fanatics rejoice. La Paix gives you THREE different types of butter to try with the bread, a little baguette.

Appetizers from the Sea

La Paix Brussels
I was blown away by the rich and complex flavors of the next course: crab head sauce, grilled salsify, and a wagyu vegetable sauce came together into a single bite that was creamy, deep, rich, and full of savory umami.
  • La Paix Brussels
  • La Paix Brussels
  • La Paix Brussels
Chef Martin likes to play with illusion, showing you what looks sweet (e.g., a cappuccino) but tastes savory (crab soup). This canele shaped dessert looks like a Japanese “pudding” with caramel sauce, but is actually more like a Japanese chawanmushi (seafood steamed egg custard) with a deep, rich langoustine head glaze sauce. To accompany this rich custard, a betel leaf wrapped around langoustine and caviar. Sophisticated and exquisite.
La Paix Brussels
Salt-baked celeriac on the left, mounds of black truffles on the right!

Appetizers from the Land

La Paix Brussels
The egg theme continues, with an elevated Chef Martin version of tamagoyaki (Japanese egg omelet), this one topped with black truffles and a radicchio -like leaf (casta le franco) with a vegetable pesto having intense flavors due to it being cooked in different broths. The tamagoyaki is perfect, paper thin with just the right amount of “runnyness.” Absolutely brilliant.
La Paix Brussels
I am surprised at how much I end up savoring this single bite, a small slice of Wagyu beef from Miyazaki Prefecture that has been dried and cured, sort of like pastrami. It is absolutely phenomenal, and I savor every bite as the flavorful fat melts in my mouth.

Main Courses

La Paix Brussels
From time to time throughout the meal they gives guests a peek of a dish in progress. Above, a beautiful piece of veal that would be served later. On the right, multiple layers of potatoes.
La Paix Brussels
Several courses later, the veal dish arrives. The pieces of veal are perfectly cooked, nice and pink in the center, and come with an intense, rich jus reduction. We each get a slice of the layered potato “pie” that we saw earlier, served with a topping of black truffle whipped cream. Finally, the dish is rounded out with cubes of celeriac and greens. It’s rich, hearty, yet balanced.
La Paix Brussels
Tonkatsu is a traditional Japanese method of preparing meat, where the meat is breaded (often with breadcrumbs), deep fried, and served with a tangy, deeply flavored sauce. Here, Chef Martin’s version retains the crunchy, deep fried meat but serves it with a trio of sauces: a chestnut mushroom sauce, an aligot of potato, comte cheese, and corn (to lighten), and finally a black truffle sauce.

It’s creative, enjoyable, and fun to eat, but I can’t help thinking it isn’t as balanced as the traditional Japanese preparation because the combinations of rich sauces are not sufficient to cut the richness of the fried meat. On their own, the sauces are delicious. As a whole, it was nice, but in my opinion, not as good as a traditional tonkatsu from the top places in Japan.

Dessert

La Paix Brussels
For a second time, we have the opportunity to see another dramatic presentation from the kitchen, this time, a pineapple studded with licorice sticks and basted in butter, blue vanilla and black tea slowly caramelizes as it cooks in a huge iron pot.
  • La Paix Brussels
  • La Paix Brussels
  • La Paix Brussels
  • La Paix Brussels
My palate in Asia has changed, and my tolerance for sweetness has diminished.

I find the caramelized pineapple with the caramel sauce much too sweet on its own, though the blue vanilla ice cream is lovely and helps cut sweetness. I enjoy the super delicate, light and crispy crepe.

The second dessert consists of a passion fruit shell filled with sorbet mixed with miso and topped with a fluffy, torched meringue on top. I get hints of tahini and peanut butter. Frankly speaking, I am not sure if I like the whole combination, which seems not quite balanced.

A Thousand Origami Cranes

Before heading out, I snap a photo with the thousand golden origami cranes that fly above the diners in the main dining room. Created by a Belgian artist who also loves Japan, these cranes embody Chef Martin’s inspiration from Japan and his continued goals of incorporating the country’s culinary knowledge and influence.

General Thoughts – La Paix Brussels

There’s no question that La Paix is one of the more creative, cutting edge, and interesting restaurants in Brussels these days. If you’re looking for a culinary adventure full of flavors, interpretations, and maybe even ingredients you’ve never tried before, La Paix is a fun place to go. For me, several of the dishes were brilliant, while some flavor combinations did not quite suite me. It’s OK, though. After all, it’s still more fun to experience a brilliant chef’s creativity than to eat the same flavors over and over again.

This is the type of place that I would certainly want to visit again. Chef Martin is clearly a talented chef. I’m sure if I come again the meal will be different but still equally interesting and fun.

The service was exceptionally good. It was dark and rainy out that day. After I called an Uber, a staff member stood out in the rain and helped look for the car. (He even asked for the license plate.) They brought out an umbrella and escorted me to the car, ensuring that I was safely on my way home.

All in all, if you want to have a higher end meal in Brussels, La Paix is an excellent choice.

La Paix Brussels
rue Ropsy-Chaudron 49
Anderlecht, 1070, Belgium

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