Four years ago when I first came to Macau, my friends were all raving about a traditional French bistro where they liked to go for comfort food. It’s a cozy little place and when you eat there, they said, it’s just like you’re in southern France. Except you’re actually in an alley just a short walk from Senado Square. The food is absolutely authentic, they said, but the chef isn’t French—actually he’s Japanese.

When I arrive at La Bonne Heure on a recent visit, Chef Koji Sonehara emerges smiling from the kitchen and invites to me join him for a drink at the bar. He pours two glasses of the house red while chatting with other customers in fluent Cantonese.

When I ask him how he learned to speak Cantonese so well, Koji says he’s been in Macau for nine years. “Speaking Cantonese is a huge benefit when you shop at the market.” He sips his wine and continues with a smile: “The market ladies always offer me free coriander.”

Koji has never set foot in France. He honed his skills and kindled his passion for traditional French dishes while working in various establishments in Japan and Macau. Not so long ago, French gourmands might have been skeptical about a Japanese cook. Not anymore. These days, the Japanese are well known for their passionate dedication to traditional French cuisine.

After finishing his wine, Koji returns to the kitchen and gets back to work. With deft, practiced expertise he uses a knife to devein a soft piece of foie gras, imported from France. He gives it a quick marinade in cognac, pink salt, white pepper and port wine, then rolls it up into a sausage-shaped ballotine. After simmering it to rich perfection, he’ll slice pieces off to serve with fresh salad.

While watching Koji work with the foie gras, I become intrigued by the aroma escaping from a big pot on the stove. “Koji,” I say, “what’s going on inside this pot? It smells like bœuf bourguignon.”

“It’s not beef Burgundy,” he says. “But you’re close. Actually, it’s daube de bœuf à l’ancienne.”

Daubes take their name from daubière, a French braising pot specially shaped to prevent evaporation and retain moisture. Like beef bourguignon, a beef daube is also a kind of traditional stew. Both are made with beef cheeks (and other cuts of beef) and red wine, but the daube is a southern French delight, healthier, sautéed with olive oil rather than bacon fat, and marinated with red wine from Côtes du Rhône instead of red Burgundy.

Beef cheeks, just in case you’re curious, really are beef cheeks—the facial muscles of a cow. It’s a lean, tough cut of meat that is transformed by slow, patient braising—my own personal favorite cooking technique—into moist, tender goodness.

I can’t resist lifting the lid to see what Koji’s got cooking with his beef. I expect a bit of southern, Provencal flair and I’m not disappointed. The browned meat is slowly simmering with sun-dried red tomatoes and niçoise olives. The extended time in the pot allows the flavors of all the ingredients in the stew to permeate the meat. It smells so good, I feel like I’m getting nourished just leaning over the stove, inhaling the breath of Koji’s daube.

“Some chefs like to do fusion,” says Koji. “Not me. I do traditional French food and I plan to keep doing it.”

While the meat slowly cooks, Koji keeps moving, melting butter in a saucepan. As it turns golden brown, he adds lemon juice and capers to create a simple, delicious sauce. The smooth aroma of browned butter fills the air as Koji spoons the sauce over a wing of fried skate—a cartilaginous fish that looks like small stingray and has a wonderful, chewy texture.

There’s something special and deeply satisfying about watching a great meal take shape—especially when you know you’re going to get to eat it. Despite greedily sucking in all those wonderful daube fumes, I’m still really hungry, especially now, because after having watched Koji in action, I have no doubt whatsoever that everything is going to be absolutely delicious.

My friends were right to rave about Koji’s bistro. La Bonne Heure means good time, and if your idea of a good time is an excellent, traditional French meal, you now know where to go.