Le 703 – a Japanese chef's gratitude to France, dish by dish

On rue Fourcroy, in Paris's 17th arrondissement, Le 703 cooks a French repertoire assembled with a convert's devotion. Chef Naomi Ogaki left Japan at eighteen and spent eleven years learning French cuisine in Provence and Alsace, before returning to Japan in 2009 and opening, in 2014, his own restaurant north of Tokyo in Utsunomiya. Ten years after first leaving France, he came back to Paris and opened Le 703 in July 2022, giving it a name built on Japanese wordplay: in goroawase, the digits seven, zero, three can be read as the sounds of his own first name. The kitchen he runs is staffed entirely by Japanese cooks, bringing what has been called a Japanese chef's precision to genuinely French cooking - pâté en croûte, escargots de Bourgogne, baeckeoffe of farmhouse chicken. Le 703 is selected in the MICHELIN Guide for its traditional cuisine, and Gault&Millau rates it 12.5 out of 20 as a Gourmet Restaurant.

01The chef

Ogaki's apprenticeship began with persistence rather than welcome. At eighteen, barely speaking French and knowing no one, he knocked on the door of a restaurant in Avignon and was turned away, returning again and again, seven times in all, before chef Christian Étienne finally gave him his chance on the seventh attempt. Five years in that one-MICHELIN-starred kitchen (1998-2003) were followed by three at Antoine Westermann's three-starred Buerehiesel in Strasbourg (2004-2007), then two more at Mon Vieil Ami in Paris. Back in Japan, he opened his own restaurant under his own name in Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, in 2014. Eight years later, in July 2022, he returned to France to open Le 703, bringing sous-chef Ryota Homma with him. Along the way he has collected two French wine distinctions: Chevalier de vin de Côtes du Rhône in 2015, and Chevalier de vin d'Alsace the year after.

02The cooking

The entire kitchen staff is Japanese, bringing a transplanted precision to cooking that stays resolutely French. Ogaki shifts the register with the seasons - Alsace takes over in autumn and winter, Provence and the South return in spring and summer - a split that plays out across dishes ranging from pâté en croûte and game to fish aioli and artichokes à la barigoule. The pâté en croûte, served with house-made pickles, is listed on the menu as the kitchen's own specialty. Escargots de Bourgogne, a veal-sweetbread terrine and a duck foie gras nougat on toasted brioche open the meal; mains run from pan-seared gurnard in saffron sauce to an aged Jersey-breed onglet with green peppercorn sauce and thick cream potatoes. At dinner, a five-course Menu Le 703 moves through an amuse-bouche, starter, fish course, meat course and dessert for seventy euros.

Insider tip

Closed Mondays; lunch menu weekdays only. Book online, or by email for groups of seven or more.

03What to order

Start with the pâté en croûte and its homemade pickles (15€), the kitchen's declared specialty, or the escargots de Bourgogne, six pieces for 12€. The veal sweetbread terrine (20€) and the duck foie gras nougat on toasted brioche (18€) both reward the detour. Among mains, the homemade boudin noir arrives with caramelised apples and mashed potato (24€), and a slow-braised lamb shoulder comes with gremolata, saffron rice and confit cherry tomato (28€). The baeckeoffe of farmhouse chicken, a dish for two to four people requiring a day's notice, has to be ordered ahead (78€). For dessert, the beer-soaked brioche perdue with beer ice cream (14€) should be ordered at the start of the meal, as the kitchen asks - or finish simply with a pistachio crème brûlée and fruit sorbet (10€).

04The room and the setting

Le 703 is built around a long counter, in a small bistro room hung with black-and-white photographs that trace Ogaki's own path through French kitchens. The effect sits closer to a quiet Alsatian or Provençal address than to anything imported wholesale from Tokyo: close-set tables, a warm welcome, a kitchen visible from the counter seats. Payment is by card only - the restaurant does not accept cheques or restaurant vouchers, a small detail that says something about who comes here on an ordinary weekday lunch break.

05The neighbourhood and booking

The address sits in the 17th arrondissement, within easy reach of the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées, and closest to Métro Péreire. Le 703 is open from Tuesday evening through Sunday lunch, closed all day Monday: lunch runs midday to 2pm, Wednesday to Sunday, and dinner from 7pm to 10pm, Tuesday to Saturday. The weekday lunch menu is unavailable at weekends, on public holidays and during the restaurant's seasonal closures - the kitchen shut for its summer break from 4 July 2026 and for winter from 19 December 2025, as announced on its own site. Individual bookings run through the restaurant's own online reservation system; groups of seven or more are asked to email ahead.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.