HUNGRY FOR MORE: The second chapter of Dior’s collaboration with French chef Anne-Sophie Pic comes with two new addresses — and a savory menu.
On Wednesday, the second location of the Café Dior by Anne-Sophie Pic will open in the French fashion house’s flagship in Ginza, Tokyo. Located on the fourth floor of the House of Dior, it sits opposite the space dedicated to the Dior Maison lines.
It will be followed by the opening on Dec. 22 of a third café in Chengdu, China. Taking pride of place on the ground floor of a brand-new, two-story Dior Homme boutique opening in the city’s upscale Taikoo Li shopping complex, opposite its existing women’s store, the eatery will open onto the exterior terrace and offer outdoor seating.
“What a joy it is to carry on this adventure with Dior. My exploration of the house’s archives and Christian Dior’s epicureanism has guided my elaboration of an elegant, gourmet culinary proposal around the oval,” Pic said in a statement.
For the occasion, the most Michelin-starred female chef in the world developed a new menu offering savory options as well as a selection of sweets inspired by house codes and the brand founder’s appreciation for gastronomy.
Pic developed dishes such as L’Épi, a tart with veal sweetbread, Japanese free-range chicken and crayfish with Voatsiperifery pepper and tonka bean.
Mathilde Hiley/Courtesy of Dior
Sprinkled throughout are nods to the spirit of the dishes of Pic’s grandfather, André Pic, and to Dior’s favorite dishes explored in “Cuisine cousu-main,” a 1972 volume illustrated by French artist René Gruau.
Appetizers are adorned with the brand’s signature cannage motif, shaped like a couture bow or imprinted with the leopard motif nodding to Dior’s muse Mitzah Bricard.
Meanwhile, the oval informs the shape of dishes with names such as “Le Mimosa” and “L’Épi,” a tart which calls for veal sweetbreads, chicken and crayfish in a nod to the traditional French vol-au-vent dish.
Desserts in the two new addresses reinterpret house codes such as the Granville rose, the toile de Jouy motif and the button.
Marking the latest restaurant venture for the French brand, the first Café Dior headlined by Pic opened last year in Osaka’s Kansai International Airport, offering a selection of cakes and pastries.
Dior also has a Monsieur Dior restaurant run by French chef Jean Imbert at its historic flagship on Paris’ Avenue Montaigne and Café Dior venues in the United States and Asia.
