With Tomé, a couple of globetrotters revisit Asian street food
It’s a rumor that started by making our mouths water. That of a sandwich, the “katsu sando”, very popular in Japan and unheard of in Lyon. It is only found in volume, a discreet coffee-shop nestled in rue Romarin (Lyon 1), bathed in blond wood and green plants. The kind of place where you would like to spend all your days, while its manager couple, Sylvain Segura and Marianne Faudot, were on the move for a long time before finally settling there.
The couple lived in Melbourne, Tokyo and Toronto
“We spent a lot of years abroad, in Australia, Japan, and Canada where we met,” explains Sylvain Segura as he leaves his kitchen. “We had always thought that we would like to open our establishment one day, Marianne having experience in catering and I a CAP in cooking. “He is from Nice, she is from Lyon, and the world was with them until 2016, when they returned to France. The couple then thought about a new concept. “At the time, there weren’t yet many street-food restaurants in Lyon,” admits Marianne.
Drawing on their years spent in Asia, they took the time to mature an idea that resulted in Tomé: a coffee-shop offering Asian street food. “The name corresponds to the cities where we lived: To for Toronto and Tokyo, Mé for Melbourne”, specifies the chef.
Dishes informed by Asian families
Every lunchtime, Tomé offers two fusion dishes. Sylvain Segura specifies that he does not only do “Japanese-inspired cuisine, we are inspired by all of Asia”. From Korea, Vietnam, Laos, India too”. He had the best teachers there are: the families with whom the couple stayed in exchange for working hours.
“In Japan in particular, we spent a lot of time with families, cooking with them. We also took some cooking classes in Cambodia. I mixed all that with my very French cooking CAP, and it gave the cuisine that we offer every lunchtime. Without forgetting the weekend brunches, and its “croque-nippon” made with salmon and bechamel sauce with nori seaweed…
As for the ingredients, it’s short circuit or nothing
If Tomé has quickly gained popularity, it is thanks to its two signature dishes: katsu sando, served every Thursday, and salmon tataki on Fridays. The katsu sando is a toasted sandwich, with dense sandwich bread, garnished with a marinated chicken cutlet and breaded with panko breadcrumbs, lighter than traditional breadcrumbs, decorated with a sauce and a homemade coleslaw. A street-food dish par excellence: gourmet, hearty, to eat with your fingers. And fair: all the ingredients in the kitchen, excluding rice and Asian condiments, come from local producers, on a short circuit. “We really wanted to offer products that we could buy ourselves and consume at home,” explains Marianne.
It is when leaving the premises that we see, under the window, delicate pear tartlets decorated with small leaves. A Japanese cook in Tomé joins, who creates pastries like calligraphy. And as the cherry blossoms return each spring, the gluttony returns with every bite.