Le Duet 198
By: Guac Magazine Editors
Tags: French Food, Japanese Food, Omakase, Food, Taiwan

by: Antina Yeh

Private Two Person Dining Room — Intimate but not Suffocating

The cab heartlessly sped away, leaving us stranded under a flashing lamp post. The peacefulness in the alleyway was a rare sight on a Friday night in Taipei. My hand followed the door plates, no.192… no.194… no.196… until it landed on the buzzer for building no. 198

“Hi, I have a reservation at 6:30pm; party of two for Antina”

Behind the door was a dimmed staircase that led us to the third floor. The handles were a little rusty, but the plants in the corridor added a feeling of freshness to the air.

We were greeted by a young lady in her twenties, perhaps only a few years older than me.

She ushered us to change into slippers, and led us to our own little dining room. On our way, we passed the kitchen where two chefs were already preparing our meal for the night, and a slightly larger dining table that seemed to be awaiting for another party of four. It wasn’t until then, did I realize what they really meant when they said to “ make ourselves feel at home”.

When thinking of a typical meal in Taiwan, foreigners automatically make connections to night markets, street foods, or traditional taiwanese dishes such as beef noodle soup or soup dumplings. However, within the local Taiwanese population, foreign cuisines and new concepts have gained an even stronger spotlight. Especially within the younger generation, pop up restaurants, fusion restaurants and speakeasy’s are all concepts that have drawn great attention. Among all, the concept of “private kitchen” has attracted many avid cooks and food lovers to the scene due to its low fixed cost and flexible time commitments on the operator’s end, and the intimacy and exclusivity on the consumer’s end.

Uni Chirashi

Most private kitchens are hidden in residential apartments that have been turned around, often decorated according to the owner’s likings. They serve amazingly fresh and delicious foods prepared by professional chefs, accompanied by a comprehensive list of alcohol selection. Yet don’t expect to see a live band or a long menu. In fact, most private kitchens follow the “Omakase” concept, where the menu is decided for you beforehand. There are no walk-ins or take-outs; your maître’d is your server, and maybe even your chef, and while there are usually one or two more groups dining at the same time, if you get lucky, you might get the whole place to yourself.

Our meal was a 6 course French-Japanese style cuisine. Chef Lin explained that the delicacy of the two cuisines make them a surprisingly good pair, and he definitely proved his point. Each bite of the truffle uni sushi left a lingering sensation of sweetness, and the foie gras was like the silver lining to traditional Japanese fried rice. Not only did the French plating turn the typical Japanese meal into a new experience, the stronger tasting French ingredients were also able to draw out the hidden aftertastes of Japanese cuisine.

Jasmine Tea-flavored Wafers and Pastries

Apart from the brief explanation of each dish, Chef Lin also chatted with us about his aspirations for the restaurant’s concept. Chef Lin started his path in culinary when he was 13, and at the age of 19, he was already the lead chef at a Japanese Restaurant. Over the past decade, he has worked at places from high-end French Restaurants to local Japanese Izakayas. However, he gave up his Sous Chef position and started this restaurant because he didn’t want to simply be a working part of a money-making machine. Instead, he wanted a place where he can really cherish his guests and thank them for choosing to spend their birthdays, anniversaries, or family reunions with him. The restaurant’s name, “Le Duet 198”, means more than just a duet by the French and Japanese cuisine, he said. It also means a duet that can only be completed with both the attentiveness of both the chef and the guest.

We stepped out of the metal gated door back into the quiet alleyway. The flickering lamp post on the slide was no longer lit, and the cloudy sky seemed to signal that it was time to go home. I looked up to the third floor window, trying to carve the past three hours into my brain. And there I saw it, on the right hand corner of the window, a glowing little sign that said “Le Duet 198”.