GENTLE -Two Different Spaces within One Restaurant-
Gentle is built on two levels, ground floor and basement, which are used to house Mediterranean dining and a sushi bar within one restaurant. The Mediterranean dining area is an elegant, high-ceilinged space, and its terrace seating is particularly pleasant, with a wide-open feel. It's a place for diners to take their time over Mediterranean cuisine that is based on Italian but weaves in the essences of Spanish, Greek, and other regional cuisines. The first floor also has a bar counter that's a good place to meet up with people. The sushi bar in the basement is a little hideaway place with 16 counter seats.
native of Sendai, is in charge of Mediterranean dining. Wanting to work in a French restaurant from the age of 15, he worked for 10 years as sous chef in the French cuisine department of a hotel aer attending chef school. He strengthened his foundational skills by trying out new genres, such as Nouvelle Chinois, and became head chef of the dining division of Gentle in September 2020.
What do you want diners at Gentle to feel and experience?
I want to make Gentle a restaurant that's rooted in the community and loved by local people. The character of our location, in Omotesando, brings in all kinds of customers, and we want them to use Gentle for all kinds of situations, combined with diverse cuisine. Gentle is the flagship branch of our Hotel Division for food and beverage content, and we want diners to feel our concept of "just five degrees higher than usual". To that end, we want them to enjoy the decor, the background music, the service, and everything else, not just the food.
What are your recommendations for lunch and dinner?
Lunch
Our standard course gives the diner a sense of Gentle's world view. We want them to enjoy the feeling of choosing and sampling everything from appetizers through the main course to dessert, on a prix fixe basis.
Dinner
This is an a la carte menu that changes every month. We gather in-season ingredients from trusted, contracted farmers and fishing ports, and assemble them into seasonal a la carte cuisine, which I recommend.
What beverages do you offer?
We serve many varieties of herb tea and coffee, but I particularly recommend our sommelierselected list of 150 wines. We have sushi as well as the dining area, so we are always brining in new wines to complement the diverse food. Please discuss wines to suit your taste with our sommelier.
What is your greatest concern as a chef?
Omotesando is the kind of place where all kinds of people come in, and we want them to enjoy their experience with a sense of freedom, unbound by frameworks. That's why our mix of dishes incorporates the flavors of Italy, Spain, Greece, and other countries which face the Mediterranean.
What's your perspective on hospitality?
I want dishes that I put my heart into to enrich the hearts of others. I aim to serve meals so that people who dine at Gentle will feel that their time here was something special.
Entrance
Sardines Beccafico
Sauteed Lobster with Oriental Orange Sauce
Grilled Japanese Black Beef
