KAOHSIUNG (Taiwan News) — Tokyo's renowned Bon.nu restaurant's overseas sister establishment, Li.nu in Kaohsiung, has launched a concise tasting menu featuring signature dishes, with Bon.nu founder Kurusu Kei visiting Taiwan to share his culinary philosophy and vision.
Bon.nu, the acclaimed Tokyo restaurant founded by the enigmatic culinary figure Kurusu, is set to mark its 10th anniversary this August. Renowned for a minimalist yet profound philosophy that distills the purest essence of ingredients, Bon.nu has consistently garnered accolades on Japan's influential food review site Tabelog.
In 2024, Kurusu’s vision expanded overseas with the opening of Li.nu in Kaohsiung. To commemorate its first anniversary, Li.nu has introduced an exclusive six-course tasting menu, curated by Head Chef Michael Lee (李祈睿), which translates Kurusu's dedication to “terroir” (the unique environmental factors that give food or wine its distinctive taste), ingredient integrity, and the pursuit of aromatic, multi-dimensional flavors onto Taiwan's culinary stage.
For Kurusu, mere deliciousness is a baseline; his true quest lies in uncovering the "personality" within each dish.
In a recent interview, he observed that many high-end Tokyo establishments indiscriminately combine luxurious ingredients like wagyu beef and sea urchin. Yet, he posited that genuinely superior cuisine demands minimal intervention, with even the application of salt requiring meticulous, precise calibration.
Kurusu asserted that extraordinary dishes can emerge from the most humble, everyday ingredients—even those readily found in a refrigerator. The new tasting menu's inclusion of fresh bamboo shoots and local flower crabs exemplifies his commitment to interpreting the inherent character of accessible, seasonal produce.
Kurusu distinguished his approach from traditional French cuisine, prioritizing the vibrant, fresh aromas of ingredients over extensive marination.
Every dish is a product of prolonged, thoughtful preparation, focused on revealing the unadulterated flavor of its components. Kurusu’s culinary ethos leans toward elegance rather than mere simplicity.
His command over aroma and seasoning is scrupulously precise; every grain of salt is calculated. He noted that the common feeling of post-meal heaviness often stems from excessive salt, and his deliberate reduction results in a lighter, more comfortable dining experience.
Kurusu's journey into gastronomy is as singular as his cuisine. After winning a 200-million-yen (US$1.3 million) lottery in university, he embarked on a quest to visit as many restaurants as he could before becoming a food writer.
Observing how many establishments, despite claiming to pursue original flavors, inadvertently deviated from their core essence through arbitrary combinations of ingredients and seasonings, he resolved to establish his own restaurant.
His mission: to champion the synergy of “ingredient’s original taste and originality.” Bon.nu’s service model is equally distinctive; beyond offering varying menus based on a guest’s visit count, Kurusu personally narrates the story and philosophy behind each creation.
His dishes eschew elaborate plating and the layering of multiple components, instead showcasing inherently superior local ingredients. The guiding principle is to transport the authentic terroir directly to the diner’s table.
The six-course tasting menu
Li.nu's Head Chef Lee faithfully interprets Kurusu's culinary logic, employing Taiwan's rich native ingredients to craft a series of direct and impactful flavor experiences. He emphasized that a dish’s three-dimensional quality is not about stacked layers, but rather allowing a single ingredient to express its complete spectrum of textures and flavors.
Each creation centers on one primary ingredient complemented by a single auxiliary element. Flavors are extracted through precise techniques, avoiding superfluous additions or modifications, using methods like pressing, deconstruction, and reassembly to present a seemingly bold yet fundamentally pure culinary philosophy.
The tasting menu begins with Kaohsiung microgreens, a vibrant array of 20 locally grown hydroponic varieties designed to deliver a kaleidoscope of sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy notes in every bite. Following this, the crab soup distinguishes itself from traditional bisques; fresh flower crabs are expertly pan-fried, blended, and strained to concentrate their essence, emphasizing the crucial aroma valued by Kurusu.
Next, the bamboo shoots risotto showcases Taiwan’s year-round bounty, with the bamboo as the star—cooked in its own extracted juice and complemented by seared diced pieces for a vertical exploration of texture and flavor. The potato course, inspired by Japanese techniques, features white jade potatoes baked in a soil crust and gently fried, elegantly served with herbaceous clarified butter.
The menu’s confidence shines with the wagyu, a signature main course featuring a unique crossbreed of Japanese F1 wagyu and Taiwanese yellow cattle. This exceptional cut is meticulously cooked for seven hours to achieve a crisp exterior and a rich, tender interior, leading into the innovative dessert.
The meal culminates with the bee pupae egg pudding, a unique caramel creation made from eggs sourced from chickens fed on bee pupae—a non-commercial rarity—precisely balanced to maximize the egg’s natural flavor and deliver a lusciously moist texture.
Reservations are available online.
Li.nu Restaurant launches a 6-course tasting menu. (Taiwan News, Lyla Liu video)
