We found ourselves close to Meguro Station the other night, with just enough time for a quick glass of wine and a nibble before catching the train home. We knew exactly where to go...
Since it opened in the autumn of 2007, Kitchen Cero has been one of our go-to stops whenever we're in the area — whenever we've been able to get in, that is. Luckily we'd timed it just right to get the only seats, at our favorite table by the door. Within minutes of sitting down, owner Iwakura-san was turning a stream of people away...
We nibbled on kuro-mame eda-mame from Tamba, encrusted with salt and roasted in their pods...
Here's a close-up.
And this is what we were drinking with them... [Cero was one of the first wine-centric restaurant/dining bars to post the prices of all their wines on the bottles, which are displayed on shelves around the dining area]
A "salad" of lovely lush figs topped with a savoury tofu-based "cream" and garnished with mint and coarsely cracked black peppercorns...
And we closed with a carpaccio of sanma (saury) topped with karami daikon oroshi (grated piquant daikon) and slices of fresh ginger — a type that is naturally pink (like the gari served with sushi). That perked our palates up no end.
I introduced Cero after it first opened in my JT column (link here: scroll down towards the bottom of the page). I stand by what I wrote then:
So what's not to like? Cero stays open well past midnight, making it ideal for a post-concert snack. And in the warm months, the tables by the door are open to the street. The only negative in our book is that it's not no-smoking. And that it's too damned popular.
Here's a link to the Cero web site...
And here's a map link...
