¡°Cooking here is like being on a boat,¡± chef Jerome Quilbeuf jokes. He¡¯s not wrong. The tiny kitchen at Gracia, Quilbeuf¡¯s pocket-sized restaurant that opened late last month, would be considered tight anywhere, even on a yacht.
There¡¯s nothing unusual about chefs in Japan operating in kitchens the size of closets. Indeed, Tokyo has a whole parallel universe of tiny counter restaurants, ranging from sushi to °ì²¹±è±è¨ (traditional Japanese cuisine) and elegant ¡°dining bars¡± serving French, Italian and other cuisines.
Now add Gracia to that number. In homage to Catalonia, the region he called home until moving here, Quilbeuf terms his new restaurant a ¡°gastrobar¡± ¡ª serving the kind of casual fine dining embraced in Barcelona, especially in its upmarket Gracia district. This is the perfect showcase for his pedigree.
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