In Seine-et-Marne, this restaurant obtains the highest distinction on Trip Advisor

Par

Julia Gualtieri

Published on

Jan 4, 2025 at 12:00 p.m.

See my news
Follow the Marne

It's been three years since chef Eric Ticana's restaurant, Goma Omakase in Chessy in Seine-et-Marne, occupied the first place in the “Travelers' choice awards” from Trip Advisor in the Asian cuisine category. But this year, he even landed a place in the rankings « Best of the Best 2024 »the highest award awarded by the platform, in the “Hidden Gems” category. “Travellers' Choice Best of the Best winners are part of the top 1% of pages listed on Tripadvisor,” the website says.

Something to delight its chef, Eric Ticana, often described as the “king of sushi” in France. “I am very happy and very proud that my team can be rewarded,” he smiles. More than a personal success, he sees it as a collective success and proof that the “experience” that the restaurant offers is popular. At Goma Omakase, the experience is indeed as much culinary and gustatory as it is human.

A culinary adventure

If the concept “omakase” (pronounced omakasé), is quite well known in Japan, it is much less so in France. “In Japan, when you say omakasethat means that you give the chef carte blanche,” summarizes Eric Ticana. By booking with him, there is therefore no than a menu – however adapted to tastes and allergies, which the restaurant inquires about in advance.

Throughout the evening, guests taste around fifteen dishesprepared in front of them by two chefs. “There at the moment, we are making octopus. It might not be something people would choose a la carte. But there they discover. ” This freedom in the menu also allows the chefs to have fun and adapt to the fresh products they find on the market in Rungis. “It’s nice to change, we find new ideas, new tastes,” continues the chef.

In his restaurant in Chessy, there are few customers and they enjoy sushi prepared live. ©DR

Curious, the chef is currently passionate about working with dehydrated herbs or even the creation of new soy sauces. The most successful? The version marinated with Madagascar vanilla. “It goes really well with Saint-Jacques,” he slips. At his place, you can enjoy a brie and truffle sushi as well as a skillfully seasoned ball of crispy fried rice. The little extra: food and… sake pairings. A real discovery that is worth the detour.

Videos: currently on Actu

Human encounters

If the experience is also very human, it is because the restaurant only has 14 places. Everyone is gathered around the bar and can watch the chefs in action or chat with them. The chef also has no shortage ofhumoura very appreciated feature if the comments are to be believed… “I am preparing for a future retraining. In fact, I’ve been playing to sold-out crowds for years,” he laughs. Before specifying: “It’s good to break the image that we often have of chefs, very hard, very rigid”. Him puts on a showin every sense of the word.

The chef, Eric Ticana, cooks in front of his customers, seated at the bar. The Omakase concept means there is only one menu, driven by the inspiration of the chefs. ©DR

Brought to share an experience in a small committee, customers always end up talking to each other. “It’s true that distinctions are great, but my greatest reward is seeing people who don’t know each other spend an evening together and sometimes even come back together.”

He who wants give all its letters of nobility to Asian cuisine and who wanted to set up his restaurant in Seine-et-Marne and not in Paris, is still very proud of the Tripadvisor award which is primarily awarded to him by customers. Although very small, the Goma Omakase restaurant stands out and well deserves its title of “hidden gem”. And since the chef led the French team to take the three places on the podium of the world sushi championship, he has noticed, the customers come from much further away! It remains to be done as well for 2025.