Top French chefs raise a glass to ‘Sake Nouveau’

THE Japanese are rather partial to France’s Beaujolais Nouveau wine, and bon vivants in Paris are now returning the compliment by developing a taste for “Sake Nouveau”.

For decades, the Japanese rice wine suffered from a tainted image in France as the fiery drink offered by restaurants at the end of a meal. But the growing Gallic appreciation of Japanese cuisine has changed perceptions.

Youlin Ly, the owner of the Maison du Sake restaurant in Paris, said: “Japanese producers make Sake Nouveau at the end of January, when they bottle their sake. It differs from other types of sake in that it is unpasteurised, meaning that it has not been heated to a high temperature and then cooled in order to preserve it better.”

Two Michelin-starred chefs, William Ledeuil of the KGB fusion restaurant in Paris and Alexandre Gauthier of La Grenouillère in the northern village of La Madelaine-sous-montreuil, have teamed up with Mr Ly to promote Sake Nouveau. Mr Gauthier bans nonfrench wines from his restaurant, but makes an exception for sake.