Robbie Swinnerton serves up morsels from the foodiest city on the planet

burgers

12/20/2015

Another great year for dining out is drawing to a well replete close. But before the bonenkai (“forget the old year” parties) erase the old memory tapes for good, let’s quickly hit that pause button and rewind a few of the finest highlights of the past 12 months…

Without question, the most memorable meal of 2015 – in Tokyo, at any rate – was Noma Japan. The ultimate mark of its success is that it is still being talked about, not just in Copenhagen but also here in Tokyo. My blow-by-blow blog account of that feast is here…

• Openings of the year

If a measure of a city’s dining scene is the number of new restaurants appearing each year, then Tokyo is in ruddy health. Among the stand-outs were Abysse, where Kotaro Meguro netted a Michelin star within 10 months…

… Le Sputnik, which also got its star, even though chef Yujiro Takahashi only launched it in July of this year…

…and Celaravird, in the backstreets of Uehara, where Koichi Hashimoto’s multi-course modernist cuisine reflects influences from his stints at El Bulli and Noma, as well his time in charge at the Tapas Molecular Bar here in Tokyo.

• Reopenings of the Year

Until this summer, you had to seek out Hidetoshi Nishioka’s discreet, one-counter restaurant in a shabby corner of Shinjuku if you wanted to taste his light, precise Japanese-inflected Shanghai delicacies. Now he has moved Renge to the mainstream, in central Ginza…

Meanwhile, Koji Kobayashi also arrived in Ginza, after closing Antica Trattoria Nostaligica in Meguro (as well as Fogliolina della Porta Fortuna, his exclusive, one-table dining club in Nagano Prefecture. His new Ristorante F èffe is serving some of the best Italian cuisine in the area…

But the absolute top reopening of the year was – of course – Florilège. "Like a butterfly from a chrysalis in a stunning, spacious location boasting counter seating and a massive open kitchen that perfectly highlights Hiroyasu Kawate’s inventive, theatrical cuisine."

• Collaborations of the Year

Bulgari il Ristorante in Ginzahosted a wonderful series of collaborations – called "In Cibo Veritas" – with some of Italy’s finest stars of the kitchen joining resident chef Luca Fantin. There were many superb highlights, but the one unmissable event featured Massimo Bottura from Osteria Francescana in Modena. Much more on the blog here…

But for sheer flavor, creativity and fun, nothing beat the three dream-team tie-ups put together by Zaiyu Hasegawa of Jimbocho Den, Susumu Shimizu of Anis and Hiroyasu Kawate of Florilege.It was a privilege and a pleasure to have attended them!

• Best beef

Shake Shack touched down in Kita-Aoyama to massive hype and waits of up to three hours... And in Ebisu, Hugo Desnoyer's ethical French beef proved hugely popular…

But for flavor and inventiveness, Henry’s Burger was the place to be. The patties are 100-percent wagyu beef, with no filler or additives, and served in a bun that is light as air. Big congratulations to Henry Nakahara! A more detailed review will follow soon…

07/06/2012

Like so many other holidays, both religious and national, July 4th tends to be just another work day here in Tokyo. The solution? Postpone the celebrations for a few days – no one back home will know the difference anyway – and then party (like it's 1776) at the weekend.

And I can't think of a better looking, better tasting American restaurant to do it than Martiniburger, over on the far side of Kagurazaka.

I wrote up Martiniburger on my blog and in my column in the spring of last year. Since then there have been plenty of changes and evolution — as owner Eliot Bergman explained when I dropped in the other day.

He now has a new head chef, Aki Asami, and she seems to be doing a great job. There are some good additions on her menu, such as these sliders, cutely called 'Tini Burgers on the menu. They're far from "teeny" though: three of them add up to quite a substantial snack.

Absolutely worth a close-up or two...

RIght now, Eliot's got a special drinks promotion going on, tied in with an exhibition of photography of New York (by Fumiaki Yamazaki). There are some great images, and they help add an extra NYC dimension to the dining room decor.

But I was there for beer as well as burgers. Up to now Eliot has only offered just the one kind: Brooklyn Lager on tap. Now for the duration he's offering a couple of limited-edition bottled beers from the same brewery. Local 1 is a strong golden ale; Local 2 is a full-flavored Belgian-type ale. Robust and dark. Just right for the rainy season.

He's also offering a special cocktail — a shiso-yuzu mojito made with Absolut Citron which he's pairing with vodka-infused cured salmon served on excellent open-faced sandwiches.

That's assistant chef Maik getting his mojito mojo on...

Anyway anyhow, tomorrow (July 7th), Eliot will be marking the big annual holiday (albeit three days late) by handing out free hot dogs and sandwiches during the afternoon from 3 pm.

Best of all, that great offer is not just limited to Americans. So I may see you there!

Or, in the other direction, one of the gourmet burgers from Arms, whose take-out/delivery outlet is just a couple of minutes walk away — or 30 seconds by Honda 90 delivery bike — on the Yoyogi Hachiman shopping street.

I'll put up full posts about both those places in due course. In fact, it's about time I put together a full-scale post about the Tomigaya/Yoyogi Koen area. There's just too much good stuff happening on the edge of the park here!

Cheers!

• Update late 2012: Fuglen is now offering a good selection of pastries (not Danish of course!), plus sandwiches with smoked salmon or cheese. But you are still welcome to BYOF.

06/06/2011

As mentioned, we don't have too many restaurants focusing on Basque food from the French side of the Pyrenees — in fact the only other place I'm aware of is the admirable (if overly pork-fixated) Lauburu.

But the real reason why Abasque works so well for us is that it hits exactly the right balance between easy-going and poised, stylish and simple, cozy and casual, and — most important of all — cooking that's hearty and satisfying but delivered with finesse.

Having been there for both lunch and dinner, as well as for the extensive Sunday "brunch" (it's basically a dinner menu but in the middle of the day), I can't find much to fault about this place. Here's a pot-luck array of photos to further whet your appetite...

You get a formal place setting but there are no tablecloths or other fancy fripperies. And yes those are gougeres you see at the back, a nice little nibble at the start of dinner. And they go just right with a glass of the house bubbly, Eudald, a lovely crisp cava of biodynamic provenance.

Chef Wada has to share his tiny kitchen with his sous-chef — plus a large and very handsome haunch of delectable jambon du Kintoa (from Pierre Oteiza, the very best)...

It's ham to rival some of the best Iberico...

Also from the starters menu: Wada's take on merguez sausage. Plump and tender, this is not mutton, it's lamb for sure. Served with soft-cooked red bell pepper and sprinkled with piquant piment d'Espelette, the premium red pepper produced in the Basque country — which Wada says is the most important seasoning in his kitchen...

This was the fantastic mixed starter plate we had at dinner a while back. Bite-size new potatoes topped with finely ground beef; very tender chicken gizzard confits; and — these were the highlights — miniature "burgers" of pork painstakingly separated from pig trotters, formed into impossibly rich, soft patties just barely crisped on the outside.

Terrine de queue de beouf au foie gras: the chunky texture of the ox tail meat contrasting beautifully with the silky-smooth goose liver surrounding it, served with a green salad garnished with slivers of that excellent Kintoa ham.

A delicious, refreshing vichyssoise, smooth but not too creamy...

Roast pork a la Basque, with beautifully glazed roast carrots, a sprinkle of parsley — with black pepper as the seasoning...

Wada loves his oven. Here's his roast duck, served with slices of golden polenta — it's sauteed first with olive oil and then in butter, but it's the latter that gives it its rich flavour — and a young asparagus spear...

And then there is his poulet grand-mere.... Cooked down in rich gravy with rosemary, it comes with moist little new potatoes and a blob of country mustard. Order extra of the home-baked wholewheat bread rolls to mop up all the juices. It doesn't look very photogenic, but it tasted fantastic. This is country food at its best: simple but memorable...

What to drink? Well, this riserva from Navarro (left) went very well with Wada's meaty cuisine. But so too did this excellent Madiran (right) which we drank by the glass for Sunday lunch and which had probably benefitted from having been opened the previous evening...

To polish off the wine, a little cheese. Roquefort is the best known French Basque cheese, but Ossau Iraty is my favourite. Here served with slices of raisin bread (Wada bakes all his bread himself), some membrillo (quince) jelly, and a dab of black cherry preserve (Abasque sells small pots of it, which is just as well as once you taste it you are likely to crave more)...

Wada also takes pride in his desserts, whether it be his gateau Basque...

...the flan au chocolat... or the parfait glacée.

A couple of truffles to go with coffee (dinner only)...

And for once we could not be tempted by the blackboard list of pudding wines.

What's great about Abasque is that you can get to try Wada's cuisine most affordably — not just at lunch (from around ¥1,500 if you want a main dish) but even in the evening.

The "menu prix fixe" (at just ¥4,935) is intended to be shared between two people. Add in a couple of glasses of wine and the table charge are you can be out of there for well under the price of a ¥10K note. Not that you'll necessarily want to, especially if you've got a healthy appetite. But even with a bottle of nice wine and a few extra supplements, if can still work out to well under ¥10,000 a head.

And for food of this quality in such an unpretentious, non-demanding setting: that's great value.

UPDATE (Sept. 2013): Unfortunately, the above post must now be read in the past tense.

Chef Wada left Abasque in the spring of this year and now has his own restaurant. It's named St. Jean Pied de Port, after the Basque town where he trained and which has inspired his culinary direction.

Unfortunately, it is a sad little space, with none of the poise and atmosphere of Abasque. And while his cooking skills have not diminished at all, the lack of customers does mean he does not offer such an exciting menu.