AstoldtoJessicaRiggfor
TheLocalTongue. Formore
chef’sguidesfromaroundthe
world, seethelocaltongue.comWelcome to Akasaka
Akasakais nexttoRoppongiandused
tohavetoa lotofkaisekirestaurants
butmostofthemhaveclosed.In the
lastfiveyears,however,lotsofgood
newrestaurantshaveopenedhere.
Shirosakais thekindofJapanese
restaurantI wanttoeatat.I always
gotocasualplaceswherepeopleare
friendlyandthere’sa warmwelcome.
Myrestaurantis smallsoI cantalkto
allofmycustomersaboutwhatthey
wanttoeatandcreateanomakase
menuespeciallyforthem.We
specialisein charcoal-grilleddishes
andalsoofferwineandsakepairings.
Late-night French
comfort food
BistroMaCuisineis a casualFrench
bistrothat’sopenuntil3amsowe
gotherea lotafterservice.Thechef
RyosukeIkejiricooksclassicFrench
foodlikepotatopotageandalso
makeshisownsausage.I reallylike
hispâtédecampagne(countrypâté)
andtherestaurantserves sake and
mostly French wine.
Craving Chinese food
WhenI livedinSydney,I usedto
eatatsomanygoodCantonese
restaurants.I missthem.SunKee
inSetagayais theonlyrestaurant
thatdoesreal-dealCantonese,
notJapanese-Chinesefood.It
remindsmeofthefoodthatI’dget
inSydneyatplaceslikeGolden
Century.I alwaysgetthexiaolong
bao,too.I gotoSunKee a lot: every
weekend,actually.Innovative French
Cronyis a Frenchrestaurantby
KazutakaOzawaandMichihiro
Harutawhobothworkedat[Tokyo
three-star]Quintessence.Haruta-
san,thechef,hasworkedatthree
Michelin-starredrestaurantsand
understandstechniquebutisn’t
fancyinthewayheusesit. The
winepairingsarealsojustbeautiful.From Italy with love
YojiTokuyoshi,theformersouschef
atOsteriaFrancescana,wasthefirst
Japanesecheftogeta Michelinstar
inItalyforhisrestaurantTokuyoshiin
Milan.LastyearheopenedAlterEgo
andnowdivideshistimebetween
TokyoandMilan.Heservesmodern
Italianfoodandusesreallygood
ingredients from Japan and Italy.●Oysters and wine
Vinobleis anotherplaceI liketo
goafterservice.It’sa late-night
winebarthatservesreallygood
oystersfromHiroshimaPrefecture.
Thekitchenalsosmokesitsown
oystersandservesotherdishes
likeoysteromeletteandcharcuterie.
Thewineselectionis reallygood,
andthecellarfeaturesFrench
andnew-worldwines.Theyalso
pournaturalwines,too.Japanese-style
barbecue
If friendsarevisiting,I takethem
toKabun-Chikaforyakiniku(grilled
meat).There’snoseasoningonthe
meat,justsalt,soyoucanreally
tastethequalityofthewagyu.The
kitchenuseseverypartofthecow,
includinglotsofoffal.Theyalso
servesomecreative,tastyside
dishes.I lovethewhiteoxtailsoup.Inspirational cocktails
Watershedis a newcocktailbar
that’stwominutesfromShirosaka
andhiddenonthesecondfloorofa
building.TheownerGoheiTsunoda
trainedundermixologistTomoyuki
KitazoeatBarRageandis also
a qualifiedsommelier.I oftenget
inspirationformydessertsfrom
hisseasonalfruitcocktails.My favourite sushi
SushiMizukamiis a sushirestaurant
thathasbeenopenfora couple
ofyears.MichinobuMizukami,
thechef,usedtoworkatJiro.He
alsodoesEdomae-style(marinated
fish)sushibutuseswhitevinegar
inhisriceratherthanredvinegar.
Allofhisnigiriandhisotsumami
(snackdishes)likethesmoked
monkfishliverarereallygood.
AndunlikesomeofTokyo’s
famoussushirestaurants,it’s
stillpossibletogeta booking.
KentarouImamura,thechef
atSushiImamura,learnthowto
cookkaisekibutisn’ta sushichef;
hisotsumamiarereallygood.His
wifeis thesommelierandshecan
recommendbothwineandsake.
I like to match pinot gris with sushi.A chef’s guide
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