tokyo food file

drinking naturally at code kurkku

The fundamental ethos — yes, you could call it the underlying code — for all the kurkku restaurants is respect for the environment. That translates into using organically grown vegetables and meat from reliable free-range sources.

Not surprisingly, it also means serving "natural" wine. The compact wine list is entirely populated with what is known here as  "bio" — basically organic or biodynamically grown, although not necessarily all sulphite-free

Here are two we had with our lunch the other day at code kurkku. The Domaine des Huards is 100% Romantin, a grape not a million kilometers away from Chardonnay, giving quite a strong Chablis profile.

 

The Coenobium was especially good. A blend of Trebbiano, Malvasia, and Verdicchi, apparently it's made by Cistercian nuns in Lazio just north of Rome. Fruity and light but with a pleasing complexity, it went very well with our pasta, and the chicken that followed, too.

 

dinner at Les Chanterelles: mushrooms & much more

There's not much to add to my write-up of the most aptly named Les Chanterelles — my latest column in The Japan Times — except to reiterate: now Chef Nakada has his own place and is finally free of the limitations involved in working for someone else (as he was at L'Artémis), he is stretching his wings and his cooking is really taking flight. 

Here's an illustrated run-down of our dinner there last month (plus a few images from one of the great-value weekend lunches), shortly after Nakada launched his mushroom-centric autumn menu.

Even though he would like to be incorporating local mushrooms in his cuisine — there are so many wonderful kinoko here in Japan — he has ruled that out, due to concern about levels of radioactivity even in fungi sourced from the other end of the country. That is why he is only serving imported mushrooms. [Thanks for raising this issue in your comment, Gio.] 

A couple of glasses of bubbly to go with the opening nibbles. Which were a light, creamy paté and a couple of one-bite mushroom-filled croque-monsieurs.

The first course: girolles, lightly sautéed with kuruma-ebi prawns and served on a thick,creamy sauce deeply infused with the heady aroma from a mixture of mushrooms. Nakada doesn't use much dairy produce in his food — but when he does, it's outstanding.

Alongside this, he served the legs and heads of the prawns, deep-fried crunchy — a tasty touch of the kind you'd expect at a high-end tempura restaurant. 

Second hors d'oeuvres: Sazae (aka turban shells), with a texture halfway between abalone and escargot, sauteed and dressed with a sauce made from their black, bitter livers, and topped with shards of black truffle. This came with a small side salad and a crisp flaky pastry (of the type known in Japanese as "pie").

Carpaccio of kamasu (small baracuda), served with slices of beautiful green zebra tomatoes, Kyoto mizuna and chrysanthemum petals, scattered with powdered truffle, and seasoned not with oil and vinegar but just tomato juice freshly squeezed and strained so finely it barely has any colour.

Pan-fried foie gras: encased in a crisp layer of almond and fine panko breadcrumbs, it was served on a mound of soft-cooked beans, with a small side salad (with truffle), and a scoop of sweet-savory fig chutney and a dab of creamed silver onion. Wonderful!

Nagada's signature hors d’oeuvres is his classic pairing of salmon and egg. This is a dish he served throughout his time at L'Artémis — I first ate it (and raved about it) seven years ago — but it's even better now. To quote myself...

"The fish (Tasmanian) is marinated and lightly smoked, just enough to deepen the umami savor without overpowering its inherent flavor, then topped with sour cream and a delicate dressing of minced shallots and fresh tomato. On one side he places a perfectly cooked onsen-tamago (lightly poached egg) covered with slices of black truffle; on the other, a small seasonal “salad,” such as bulgur topped with green soybeans, garnished with chrysanthemum petals and yet more truffle. 

Joue de boeuf (ox cheek), long simmered till meltingly tender in a red wine jus infused with black pepper and juniper, with a generous serving of deep-fried chanterelles on the side.

Quail stuffed with wild rice and minced mushrooms, wrapped in bacon and oven-baked, accompanied by half a matsutake, soft-cooked small sato-imo taro yams, a light onion puree, a couple of raisins, and one of the richest gravies we’ve had in a long while.

Here's a close-up of what it looked like dissected...

Dessert 1:  chocolate terrine with cassis sorbet

Dessert 2: wine-simmered fig served in Champagne granité.

Again: this really is my sort of place. Simple but stylish, relaxed but worth dressing up for; well away from the bright lights of central Tokyo, but far above the standard of the average "neighbourhood" joint; and full-on restaurant cuisine with subtlety and finesse — make no mistake, this is not bistro cuisine.

Highly recommended if you live (or intend to be) anywhere on the Yoyogi side of the city.

Here's a map link...

And here is the Les Chanterelles home page...

Cristiano's — the mural magic

There's one other factor that gives Cristiano's in Tomigaya its distinctive atmosphere: the gorgeous wall paintings. You can't miss the red and black cockerel by the front door...

...or the port barcos rabelos that indicate the way to the rest room...

...or the grove of olive trees that entwine themselves all the way into and around the smallest room...

They're all the work of Keeda Oikawa, an artist who lives close by Cristiano's. Apparently she was given a key and a free hand, and she let herself into the restaurant in the wee hours to work her mural magic during the night.

  

These days Keeda is best known for her live painting performances, and is in frequent demand not just in Tokyo but around Japan and also abroad. Here's a (shaky hand-held) clip of her in action at a Fair Trade fashion show last year...

 

Her distinctive artwork can also be seen adorning the walls of Vi-sand, a bright little specialist cafe/diner in Shimo-Kitazawa that specializes in banh-mi and, in the evening, light Vietnamese snacks (as introduced in my Japan Times column last Friday).

Vi-sand originally opened in February, not long before seismic events brought the city to a grinding halt. To relaunch the business, the owners asked Keeda to decorate the walls in her trademark style — and to also do to a small live painting session at the beginning of last month.

Nice place, fun event, great art!

hot tip: Les Chanterelles in Moto-Yoyogi

Les Chanterelles has just opened, as you can tell from the banks of flowers stacked up outside the front door (we could smell them from a good block away). And it's even better than we'd expected.

Congratulations to Chef Nakada!

As soon as the local gourmet magazines pick up on it, reservations are going to be at a premium, so best not to dally!

Full details here...

Fuku – local yakitori with style and flavour

Fuku lies on the quiet outer fringes of the shopping district below Yoyogi Uehara station. In many ways it's the ultimate neighbourhood yakitoriya — so good that if you live in the area there's little incentive to go anywhere else, but not so utterly brilliant that it's really worth crossing town for.

There is a lot to like about Fuku. First of all, it looks sharp, with a sleek facade and decor that looks nothing like a typical yakitori joint

Second, they have Anchor Steam Beer...

And, most important of all, fine yakitori — especially the neginiku (their term for negima)...

... and the tsukune.

Unlike so many upwardly aspiring yakitori joints these days, Fuku does not use free-range 'name-brand' jidori chicken. No doubt, that's because they want to keep prices down. But even a standard-issue broiler is going to taste good when cooked with care over premium Bincho charcoal.

 Sensibly (given the growing number of expats living in the area), there is a bilingual menu. This could be the prime reason why Fuku has attained a certain cult status in some foodie circles.

Another reason could be the eclectic/non-traditional items on it — such as sticks of bacon interspersed with olives (this was on the Japanese-only list of 'daily specials')..

Or maybe it's because there is plenty more on the menu than just the usual skewers.

Such as shallots with a miso dip; or a very tasty wagyu-suji nikomi — wagyu beef simmered down in rich, savoury Hatcho miso, which went down very well with a couple of charcoal grilled yaki-onigiri rice 'balls' (no photos). Very satisfying.

Fuku is about 3-4 minutes walk from Yoyogi-Uehara Station, or 6-7 minutes from Yoyogi-Hachiman Station.

The address etc. is: 3-23-4 Uehara, Shibuya-ku; 03/5420-3288.

It's definitely worth phoning ahead to reserve your place at the counter.

Here's a map link...