One of the great delights of dining in Japan is the cornucopia of restaurants that specialize in one type of cuisine, as in the recent reviews of ramen at Ivan Ramen. Another unique dining experience is a meal based on pickles. Kintame, a store based in Kyoto, has two restaurants in Tokyo where diners can indulge in…
Month: June 2011
Seirinkan
Photo by Chuck Tanaka Peterson As a New Yorker who visited Japan often in the early ‘70s as a child, I have ingrained in my memory a pizza that was topped with squid legs. I remember the disappointment of the tentacles peeking out from under the cheese almost taunting me. For the longest time I…
Ivan Ramen
Dreams can come true. In the cold winter months, perhaps the most satisfying dish to be had in Japan is ramen. With almost 9,000 ramen shops in Tokyo, it is not hard to find one, but rare is the one where the noodles are handmade from scratch and where the chef is a graduate of…
Two Rooms
Two Rooms near Omotesando has one of Tokyo’s best dream teams at the helm of the restaurant. In the kitchen, chef Matthew Crabbe’s impressive resume includes the New York Bar and Grill at the Park Hyatt and Kyoto’s Hyatt Regency. Eddie Baffoe was the popular bar manager at the Oak Door at the Grand Hyatt….
Les Saisons in the Imperial Hotel
Tokyoites are generally spoiled by the wealth of so many outstanding French restaurants available. Many Michelin-starred chefs from France have outlets in Tokyo; Joel Robuchon, Pierre Gagnaire, and Michel Troisgros, to name but a few. Included with this group is chef Thierry Voisin, who came to The Imperial Hotel to run the kitchen at Les…
Chef Seiji Yamamoto of Ryugin
This article first appeared in The Japan Times in January of 2008. Since then I would have to say that chef Seiji Yamamoto’s cuisine has returned to more traditional Japanese techniques. But the article is still worth reading to understand chef Yamamoto’s background. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fg20080111a1.html (text follows) Nothing turns a woman on more than a room…
Alan Richman in GQ on how Food is Made Better in Japan
I had the great pleasure of spending some time with journalist Alan Richman as he tested a theory that food is better in Japan. Why is it that French, Italian, or Chinese food is so good in Japan? Read as he eats his way through Tokyo testing this theory. The story opens up in what…
Gotta Get – What to Get at Japanese Supermarkets
For those visiting Japan wanting to stock up their suitcase for foodie items that are hard to find outside of Japan I have come up with my list of “gotta gets”. When I have lived outside of Japan I also make a stop at the 100 (or 99) yen shop and stock up on cheap…
Where do Tokyoites Shop for Food?
So where do Tokyoites do their grocery shopping? There are large supermarkets, like Ito Yokado, Daiei, or Seiyu (a subsidiary of Walmart) but these require a lot of space so are usually found a bit out of the city. There is an Ito Yokado a few stops from Tokyo station on the Tozai line at…
Indagare Interview – Culinary Tokyo: Restaurants Not To Miss
This interview appeared a while back but I wanted to share it for its information on some of my top recommendations for foodies visiting Tokyo. Born in Japan and raised in the United States, Yukari Pratt Sakamoto, the author of the soon-to-be-released Food Sake Tokyo (Little Bookroom, $29.95), is a true Tokyo food insider. Here, she shares her favorite restaurants,…
Book Review – Dashi and Umami
This book includes the contributions of many star chefs, including Takashi Tamura (of Tsukiji Tamura), Eiichi Takahashi (Hyotei), Kunio Tokuoka (Kyoto Kitcho) and Yoshihiro Murata (Kikunoi). Photos of their kaiseki cuisine make this a handsome coffee table book, and students of Japanese cuisine will be impressed with the depth of information on umami-rich ingredients like…
Book Review – Japanese Hot Pots
Finally—a book on nabe in English. Chef Tadashi Ono of Matsuri restaurant in New York and journalist-blogger Harris Salat of the Japanese Food Report have teamed up for the definitive guide to Japan’s quintessential comfort food. The first chapter deconstructs the basic parts of a good nabe: broth and dashi; foundational ingredients like Napa cabbage,daikon, Japanese mushrooms and…
Book Review – Takashi’s Noodles
Takahashi Yagihashi has been a chef and restaurateur in the American Midwest for two decades. In 2000, he was named one of America’s Ten Best New Chefs by the prestigious Food & Wine magazine, and in addition to his namesake restaurant in Chicago, he’s been collaborating with Macy’s department store on a nationwide chain of noodle shops….
Book Review – The One-Straw Revolution
First published in English 30 years ago, this little green tome by Masanobu Fukuoka has been reissued by The New York Review of Books as part of its Classics series. And the timing couldn’t be better—as issues of sustainability, agribusinesses and the use of chemical fertilizers have come to the fore, the book is more relevant than…
Book Review – Everyday Harumi
This new work by the doyenne of Japanese cookbook authors will be welcomed by everyone who loves washoku. Everyday Harumi is filled with easy-to-cook, home-style recipes that cover a wide range of meat, seafood and vegetable dishes. The book opens with an entire chapter on cupboard essentials for making Japanese cuisine, in particular sauces that you will go…
Book Review – The Niigata Sake Book
There’s relatively little information on sake printed in English, so whenever a new work on nihonshu comes out, it’s worth carefully perusing. The Niigata Sake Book does not disappoint, especially for readers wanting to know more about the technical side of sake. It’s based on a work called The Niigata Sake Expert Textbook and, according to translator Mike Masuyama, is “the…
Book Review – Sushi
A professor of biophysics at the University of Southern Denmark, Ole G. Mouritsen has penned the most extensive and authoritative book—dare I say encyclopedia?—on sushi to date. This weighty tome is packed with more information than most readers will ever need. Yet that’s exactly where it shines. The author’s curiosity and passion about fish is…
Book Review – A Cook’s Journey to Japan
Sarah Marx Feldner takes readers on a trip through Japan with homestyle recipes from around the country. Her cookbook opens up with an informative guide to Japanese kitchen utensils, ingredients and basic cooking techniques. Filled with step-by-step photos to help novices master essential skills, A Cook’s Journey to Japan will give readers the courage to try new…
Book Review – Japanese Cocktails
Japanese Cocktails is filled to the brim with original concoctions with fun names like Oyaji, Salty Hachiko Dog, Bloody Mari-chan and Office Lady. And not only are the names creative, so are the recipes. With drinks based on sake, shochu, whisky and more, this thin book has a cocktail to please everyone, many of the recipes…
Chef Q&A with Ivan Orkin of Ivan Ramen
Ivan Orkin is the talented chef-owner of Ivan Ramen and the recently opened Ivan Ramen Plus. A Culinary Institute of America graduate who has worked with the best including Andre Soltner of Lutece and Bobby Flay. Ivan has been very busy with the opening of his second ramen shop as well as working on what…
Ginza Harutaka 銀座青空
Chef Harutaka developed his skills with 12 years at Sukiyabashi Jiro. This sushi restaurant is popular with top chefs in the city. Sit at the counter and watch the young, talented and soft-spoken chef as he handles the seasonal seafood with care and deft. Part of the delight in dining here is taking in the…
Tokyo Sweet Trends
Chef David Myers from Los Angeles has created a buzz with his square-shaped chiffon cake in flavors such as yuzu and mattcha or Earl Grey and raspberry. His patisseries can be found at SOLA in Ginza Mitsukoshi’s depachika. SOLA Chuo-ku, Ginza 4-6-16, Mitsukoshi B2 03-3562-1111 http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13115875/
Tokyo Sweet Trends
Sweets made from choux crème in many forms are popping up throughout the metropolis. Some of what you will find include the traditional Paris-Brest at Patisserie Aimee Vibert, a pistachio Saint-honore at D’eux Patisserie in Tokyo station, or an éclair topped with a brittle candy at Aux Delices de Kenji. Patisserie Aimee Vibert Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi…
Tokyo Sweet Trends 2011
Dessert specialty restaurants and several tea salons are leading the trends for sweets. Chef Kazuyori Morita trained in France and each afternoon between lunch and dinner, Libertable, becomes a ‘salon de the’ with desserts and tea or champagne. Classical French desserts with a twist, for example Mont Blanc with a meringue made of porcini mushrooms…
Gotta Go – The Sake Fair on June 15th in Ikebukuro
The do not miss event for any sake aficionado, The Sake Fair, will be held on June 15th in Ikebukuro. A rare opportunity to try up to 450 nihonshu (impossible, but nice to dream about) at one time. And all for the bargain price of 3,500 JPY (3,000 JPY if you purchase ahead of time)….
Book Review – Drinking Japan by Chris Bunting
This indispensible guide will become the bible for anyone passionate about Japanese beverages. Regardless if your preference is for shochu or nihonshu, Chris has covered it all. Clearly written by a reporter, no detail is overlooked, and the information is easy to understand. The descriptions of each bar transports you there and he even includes…
Ginza New Castle Curry ニューキャッスル – CLOSED
So sad to say that this is now closed. We will miss you New Castle. New Castle ニューキャッスル Chuo-ku, Ginza 2-3-1 03-3561-2929 11:00 – 21:00 (Saturdays until 17:00) Closed Sundays and holidays No website An old style curry shop, in an old building in a very modern part of town, catches your eye. The shop…
Food Sake Tokyo 