At "Paul Bocuse," the French restaurant operated by HIRAMATSU with four locations nationwide, a special soup promotion "Les Soupes de Bocuse" is underway, featuring seasonal ingredients. This time, the menu highlights "Onion Gratin Soup." The promotion runs until Sunday, February 28, 2021.

HIRAMATSU operates restaurants bearing the name of the French culinary master, "Paul Bocuse."

The "Les Soupes de Bocuse" initiative introduces a series of soups, following the seasons. This includes the "Potage de Légumes" (Vegetable Potage), a staple on the menu at Bocuse's original Lyon restaurant, made with seasonal vegetables and ingredients. This promotion is currently running at four Brasserie Paul Bocuse locations across Japan.

The word "restaurant" originates from the French "Restaurant," meaning "restorative meal."

Around the 16th century, when the word emerged, it referred to highly nutritious soups made with consommé in France. Places that served such soups to aid recovery evolved into what we now know as "restaurants."

Soup and restaurants share a deep connection. This promotion, showcasing seasonal vegetable soups, was conceived under HIRAMATSU's philosophy of "spreading French culture in Japan through French cuisine."

The current offering is the "Onion Gratin Soup," designed to warm you from the inside out.

To develop this soup, six chefs from the Paul Bocuse restaurants in Tokyo and Kanazawa gathered under the direction of Executive Chef Kazunori Nakatani.

Adhering to Bocuse's three culinary principles – "good ingredients, good cooking, good seasoning" – they have recreated the master's traditional soup recipe, adapting it to Japan's climate and the characteristics of local vegetables with precise temperature, portioning, and seasoning, to achieve the most delicious soup possible.

Typically, Onion Gratin Soup is made by slowly sautéing onions in butter until deeply caramelized, then combining them with broth.

For this "Onion Gratin Soup," the onions are gently cooked in plenty of butter over low heat, then simmered with the lid on until tender and soft, while remaining white. The onions are not caramelized.

This method results in a soup where the natural sweetness and umami of the onions can be fully appreciated.

Finally, topped generously with sliced baguette and Gruyère cheese, and baked in the oven until golden brown, the "Onion Gratin Soup" is ready to warm you from the core.

During the soup's availability, customers who post photos of the Onion Gratin Soup enjoyed at any of the four "Brasserie Paul Bocuse" locations nationwide, along with their impressions and the hashtags #スープdeボキューズ and #オニオングラタンスープ, will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of five original Brasserie Paul Bocuse soup bowls.