It doesn't get much better than this -- pizza and wine in the great outdoors... Who cares if the setting is not quite Chiantishire? Or the vino rosso is served in a paper cup? Just as long as the pizza is as good as the company...
You'll have to read Mark Robinson's excellent piece (up today on CNNGo) for the full story. But this is where to come for the photos in their full-size glory.
First things first: Yutaka Hazama makes a fine pizza. He's done his research and he's got the pie down nicely. Doesn't hurt that he's got a good woodfired brick oven, and he's tried and tested his recipe and technique till the results come out just right.
So what if his kitchen is the back of his van?
And so what if the setting is less than salubrious -- an empty lot off a salaryman's alley on the edge of Love Hotel Hill in Shibuya? The bottom line is it's tasty, it's fun -- and it's VERY Tokyo.
As Mark writes:
It’s noisy and convivial and our conversation turns briefly to gratitude -- for being able to sit here on this summer evening eating cheaply and authentically, and lapping up the passing circus.
And for the perennial wonders of Tokyo food culture -- its self-regulating chaos, its inclusiveness of all social statuses, generations, genres and genders.
Regardless of their ethnic diversity, the more parochial dining scenes of say, Sydney or London, simply don’t offer this laid-back mix.
I'll raise a glass -- or even a paper cup -- to that!
More pizza truck action on a previous post here... and here...
