Dining well in Tokyo is easy. If anything it can be intimidating trying to plan the perfect itinerary for the best meals while in Japan. One tip is not to limit yourself to Japanese cuisine meals only. Japan offers amazing seasonal ingredients and I love tasting meals made by non-Japanese chefs working with what is available here.
Le Pristine at the Hotel Toranomon Hills by chef Sergio Herman is one such restaurant. Chef started at his family’s restaurant, Oud Sluis, in the Sluis, Netherlands. Chef first gained three Michelin stars in 2005 and has been on the World’s Top 50 Restaurants for eight years. From the Netherlands chef opened Le Pristine in Antwerp, Brussels in 2020, with Le Pristine now in Tokyo and Singapore.
The cuisine is contemporary European blending select ingredients from the Netherlands with Japanese seasonal ingredients. Chef Herman is a master at bringing together textures and flavors. I love that there was a nice acidity in each dish. The menu also showcases Japanese seafood such as hamachi, mussels, and Hokkaido scallops. There is also a variety of cheese on the menu including Taleggio cheese, Ricotta salata, Burrata, and Stracchino. The sommelier also was fantastic offering interesting options for non-alcoholic drinks, cocktails, and wine. To start there was a fantastic non-alcoholic distilled cherry, nuts, yuzu, and sakura from Botan distillery in Antwerp. The Denton Shed Nebbiolo paired perfectly with the handmade orecchiette, clams, squid, and ‘nduja. A sweet finish with Hokkaido pumpkin, passionfruit, almond, fennel, and yuzu.
The dining room fills with warm sunshine from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Excellent service with bilingual and trilingual staff. I love seeing international servers, as I too once worked as a sommelier at the Park Hyatt Tokyo’s New York Grill and Bar. It’s much more common now, than it was twenty years ago. 🙂
Next door is Le Pristine Cafe with delicious pizzetes with an amazing light and airy dough, pork katsu sando, pasta, and salads. *The photo of the pizzette is from December with tuna sashimi. The menu changes frequently and is updated online.
Le Pristine at Hotel Toranomon Hills
Minato-ku, Toranomon 2-6-4, Toranomon Station Tower
closest station: Toranomon Hills (connected to the Toranomon Station Tower)
Food Sake Tokyo 