Japanese gems
Raymond Blanc, chef-patron at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire, maintains the next wave of culinary influence will come from the Orient: "More and more food will be linked with health - with light, sharp and fascinating flavours from Thailand, Japan and Vietnam."
Such is his interest in Eastern cuisines - plus the fact that Japanese visitors make up a growing proportion of the hotel's customer base - that Blanc invited a top Japanese chef to cook in his kitchen next week.
Hirohisa Koyama operates two restaurants, the more formal Aoyagi and the adjoining Basara Bar, in the Japanese fishing town of Tokushima.
At Aoyagi (where, incidentally, dinner costs up to £200 a head), Koyama specialises in a style of cooking known as Kaiseki - essentially, Japanese haute cuisine.
This will be the first time Koyama will have cooked pure Kaiseki cuisine outside Japan. The western culinary world has been privy to a couple of cooking demonstrations in Paris in recent years - drawing top chefs such as Joël Robuchon of his eponymous restaurant at Le Parc Victor Hugo and Bernard Pacaud of L'Ambroisie - but on these occasions he prepared French-inspired Japanese dishes.
A feast of Japanese events
Next week's Japanese festival, which runs from 1 to 5 May at Le Manoir will offer visitors more than just a flavour of Japan.
Guests will be able to appreciate Japanese culture from the displays of ink painting and Ikebana flower-arranging that will be demonstrated and exhibited throughout the week. Also, before dinner on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, a Japanese soprano will give a 45-minute concert. On the Tuesday and Thursday evenings a sake tasting will be held.
As Caterer went to press, the finishing touches were being put to a Japanese garden that has been commissioned for the hotel grounds.
Special offer for caterer readers
Encouraged by Caterer's Lifestyle survey (7 July 1994) in which readers voted Le Manoir as the restaurant they would most like to visit, general manager Simon Rhatigan is offering readers working in the industry a last-minute special price for dinner at the Japanese festival.
Rather than £95 for dinner per person, guests working in the industry would be charged £80, and the evening concerts plus dinner would be available for £100 instead of £125.
To qualify for the special industry rates you will be required to give full details of your position and place of work. For more details contact Le Manoir on 01844 278881.
