Michelin-star Kei Kobayashi chef adds flair to Sushi Art menu

SushiArt has added sophisticated flair to its menu with items curated by Kei Kobayashi, a Japanese chef based in Paris. Kobayashi, who trained in France and has worked under Alain Ducasse, opened his ­restaurant Kei in the French capital in 2011.

He earned his first Michelin star the following year.

“The challenge of reinterpreting sushi by a Japanese chef who works in the French tradition is both stimulating and a big risk, for me and for SushiArt,” says Kobayashi. “I had to detach myself from what I have always known to reinvent new recipes.”

One of those recipes is the gyu (beef) special roll (Dh40). The roll is topped with carpaccio-style beef smothered in teriyaki sauce, with interest added by peppers, carrots, avocado, rocket, fried ­onions, mayonnaise, chilli and lime.

“I wanted to play with colours,” says Kobayashi. “This is a very visual creation, very expressive.”

Kobayashi’s other dishes are the gravlax roll (Dh40), which is inspired by his salmon gravlax recipe at Kei; a flavoursome sweet and sour cucumber red miso salad (Dh24); and a garden maki roll (Dh25) where vegetables shine.

“My cuisine is full of vegetables,” he says. “Each vegetable is different and so there are many possibilities. I focused on this for my SushiArt creations.”

Kobayashi’s dishes have been permanently added to the menus of all SushiArt outlets in the UAE. www.sushiart.ae

sjohnson@thenational.ae