What Inspired Chefs Jeremy Gillon and Kenji Yamanaka’s Exclusive Menu for Off Menu Luxe

How was the experience collaborating with each other?

KY: Chef Jeremy is a great chef. Although I don't speak very fluent English, this wasn’t an issue as we were able to exchange well in a few words. I’m glad that we produced a wonderful chemistry that’s not usually seen.

JG: It was absolutely wonderful as we have great respect for each other both professionally and as a person. It was even more delightful to be able to collaborate and share the experience with 200 hundred guests. It had been so long since we had the privilege of being able to cook for such a large group and it was truly remarkable. Additionally, we found that both our cuisines were very complimentary of each other, making a natural pairing.

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Please tell us about your collaboration dish?

JG: When creating our collaboration dish, we wanted to pick one ingredient that invoked a little nostalgia in both of us. We decided on chestnuts, as it has a deep culinary history in both France and Japan. We therefore decided to do two iterations of chestnut, which we believed worked really well together.

What excited you most about the Off Menu Luxe event?

KY: It was an exciting opportunity to serve 200 guests with chef Jeremy. This was such a rare opportunity us, especially with such a small team at Béni. We hope that our collaboration brought smiles and satisfaction to our guests.

JG: It was such a delight to have the opportunity and privilege to be able to collaborate with Béni. This was a truly collaborative experience, which is what our industry is truly about. The community spirit was alive in this experience, where the lines of separation between both establishments were non-existent and everyone worked cohesively. The togetherness of it all was really special and most exciting for us given how long it had been since we could do things like these.

How does the seven-course menu represent both your cuisines and culinary philosophies? 

JG: Jag is a vegetable-centric discovery degustation establishment and our methodology of menu curation methodology is led by the vegetable first and then paired with an appropriate protein. Béni is the opposite of this, whereby the proteins take centre stage. It was naturally complementary to each other. Furthermore, both of us respect the produce and let the produce dictate how it should be prepared to best showcase its flavours. The degustation, therefore, worked very cohesively and during our conversations with the diners, we discovered that they enjoyed it. We are truly delighted and grateful.

Here’s a peek at what went down on the first night of Off Menu Luxe, with guest chefs Jeremy Gillon and Kenji Yamanaka:

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