Life With Taiki Sakurai
Life With Taiki Sakurai
If you – like us – need a little gastronomical shake-up now and then, put down Le Cheval d’Or – located in the 19th arrondissement – in your little list of places you have to visit the next time you find yourself in Paris. It’s Chinese meets French and it’s splendid! And when you’re there, please say hello to Taiki Sakurai, the restaurant’s extremely kind and well-dressed manager and wine guy. Recently, we called up Taiki to talk Paris during summer, his favourite park and a couple of hot tips for dinner and lunch. You’re welcome!
Text by Oliver Bodh Larsen, Photos by Julia Velázquez Charro
Taiki wears Another Shirt 1.0, Ecru Brown (see more) & Another Pants 5.1 JPN, Daku Beju (see more).
Hi Taiki. It’s mid July when we do this, where are you at right now?
I’m in Paris at the restaurant where I work, Le Cheval d’Or. It’s in the 19th arrondissement.
What’s the weather like right now?
It’s pretty hot today. About 28 degrees. And sunny. A little humid as well. But I like Paris during the summer. People are out and the energy is great. Right now vacation period is starting so a lot of the locals have started leaving the city.
Taiki wears Another Shirt 1.0, Ecru Brown (see more) & Another Pants 5.1 JPN, Daku Beju (see more).
I can imagine it’s a bit weird with so many people leaving and then there’s guys like you who need to stick around.
Yeah, exactly, summer is definitely different, the people in the restaurant are different, but I think it’s nice. You get to see people from all over the world. But this year we’re also closing down for two weeks in August.
What are your plans then?
I’m going to Palermo, Sicily, for a few days with my girlfriend. We’ve never been to Italy, so we’re pretty excited.
Do you have a long list of restaurants written down you need to visit?
Not really, to be honest, I need to ask some friends, but I also like to just go explore without knowing anything.
What’s your favourite time of year in Paris?
I have to say the beginning of the summer. The sun is coming, but it’s not too hot yet. You get to wear nice clothes and you can sort of play around with it, too. Then we also have the fashion week in the end of June, which is busy, and I get to see a lot of friends that are coming in from Japan and other places of the world.
When you’re off from work, what do you like to do on a nice day?
I really like to go to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. It’s a nice park with a big pond in the middle. Lots of places to sit down or, like, bring blankets and just lay down and read a book, maybe even have a beer and stuff.
Do you have a work uniform at the restaurant?
During service, we wear off-white canvas shirts, pants in the same color as well.
Sounds cool. What do you like to wear when you out yourself?
Hmmm. I like casual fits. Relaxed, but nothing too crazy. I prefer minimalistic styles.
So classic Japanese?
Hehe, yeah, kind of!
Do you have any restaurant tips you can share?
There’s a lot. One of them is called Pétrelle. Small, intimate, but very nice food. It’s very quiet and chill. I guess it’s sort of bistro but more restaurant-style with a tasting menu at like 75 euros.
And for lunch?
Let me think. Hmmm. Oh! I really like this place called Café Du Coin. It’s more like a brasserie, so they’re open from early morning until night time. They do small pizzas and small plates of food and stuff. And you can also drink som nice wine and beer. A very nice spot, located on a street corner, so good outdoor seating as well.
Great, Taiki, thank you. Last question: What’s a cool thing you’ve read, watched or listened to lately?
I recently came across this music composer who is doing a series of albums with some classic jazz and funk musicians. His name is Adrian Younge and the series is called ’Jazz Is Dead’. I’m really into jazz and these albums really hit me!
Taiki wears Another Polo Shirt 2.0, Brown Melange (see more) & Another Jeans 3.0, Used Blue Marble (see more).
