Marie Akaneya, the only Japanese restaurant in Paris to offer Matsusaka beef

Japanese restaurant Marie Akaneya and its chefs Chiho Murata and Ignasi Elias introduce Parisian gourmets to an exceptional product: Matsusaka beef, a meat as rare as it is tasty. And for dessert, another delicacy invites itself to the table: Japanese Crown Melon.

Chances are you've heard of wagyu beef, which is now a regular feature on the menus of many Parisian restaurants, both Japanese and non-Japanese. But have you ever heard of Matsusaka beef? To discover this exceptional Japanese meat, there's only one address - in the whole capital, yes! and that's the Marie Akaneya restaurant, in the capital's 9th arrondissement.

Before you step through Marie Akaneya's carefully concealed door, let us explain exactly what Matsusaka beef is. For a long time, this luxury meat from the renowned Ito Ranch farm was almost an urban legend, its consumption reserved for restaurants in Japan only, jealously guarded due to its rarity, high quality and high demand within the country itself.

Fortunately for us little Parisian gourmets, this national treasure has been exported for the first time in its history, since last year, outside the borders of the Land of the Rising Sun, arriving in style at the table of Marie Akaneya, a true sumibiyaki in Paris. Note that this rare meat can fetch 5000€/kg!

The reason behind this astronomical price? The good breeding of the cows, which enjoy the full attention of their breeders. Legend has it that the cows receive massages and drink beer - and this is still true today only on certain farms, to stimulate the appetite of the animals, which are raised for 35 to 45 months. The longer they are raised, the smoother, deeper and more mellow the marbling.

Ito Ranch, the farm where Matsusaka beef originated, is more than careful about exporting its meat. By 2025, only 8 to 10 restaurants in the whole of Europe are expected to offer this exceptional meat on their menus. And with good reason: only 15 cows will be available for export by then! So, as far as Paris is concerned, it's at Marie Akaneya, and nowhere else, that Matsusaka beef can be discovered and enjoyed.

For this, chefs Chiho Murata and Ignasi Elias offer several options in the form of tasting menus. For €120, the restaurant offers a first menu that provides a true sumibiyaki experience, but with Kobe beef only, not Matsusaka beef.

We therefore recommend the lavish and generous €180 menu , which may not be affordable for everyone, but quality and rarity must be paid for. All the more so as the menu closes with another of Japan's rarest delicacies, the Crown Melon from Fukuroi in Shizuoka prefecture, another highly sought-after fruit.

Tasting is a ceremonial affair, from the moment customers enter the restaurant, where they are greeted loudly by the entire team. The rest continues at the table, around the grill placed in the center of the table and the glowing coals that lick the food, sometimes powerfully, sometimes delicately. Let us now reveal the full tasting menu in pictures.

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