At this time of year we don't need too much of an excuse for a visit to the Isshiki area of Hayama. After all it has one of the nicest beaches on that whole stretch of coast. But on this occasion we left our bathing gear at home: we were off for lunch at Il Rifugio.
It's a beautiful tranquil setting: a Taisho-era traditional wooden house set in a carefully manicured garden.
We'd booked a table on the verandah, where we could watch the big black butterflies and fat bottle-blue dragonflies flitting through the trees.
Our antipasti: a rich creamy corn potage with a very faint hint of wasabi; home-produced ham made from local Hayama-ton pork; and nama-shirasu (fresh whitebait, a specialty on this coast) in garlic-rich oil, served with crisp Sardinian pane carasau.
Our primi: bavettine with a rich red sauce of local watari-gani crab. This was great. Not just because the tomatoes were fresh — and so was the crab. Just look at the volume. This was a serious serving of pasta, not the anemic little mounds you get at too many Italian restaurants in Tokyo. Plus they give you the tongs you need to extract all the crab meat from the carapace and pincers. They also provide wet towels (unscented — extra bonus points) inviting you to pick up those chunks of crab, to suck and dig in, and lick your fingers. Outstanding and well worth the ¥300 supplement.
Less brilliant was the black sesame-encrusted foccacia that came with the pasta — as if we needed even more starch at this point in the meal.
For our main dish we chose the fritti of aka-ashi ebi prawns and aka-ika squid — like all the seafood, it's fresh from the fishing port at Sajima, just down the coast — and zucchini. Nice crispy batter, not too oily and nothing at all like tempura — although the salt was sprinkled on a bit too heavily (for my liking, though a Sardinian might approve). But the Sardinian rosé (Serralori) made an excellent counterfoil, with its slightly tannic-medicinal final notes.
To close, an intense orange-infused creme brulée. The upper surface was just the way I like it, only lightly browned and still moist — much preferable to the usual blow-torch crisped glaze.
Il Rifugio has been open almost exactly a year now — as we were reminded by a commemorative vine placed prominently by the entrance...
It's a lovely place, once associated with the imperial family — whose summer besso villa is just down the road — and very nicely converted to accommodate tables and chairs (and shoes)...
And they're lovely people, chef Watanabe and his lady, very welcoming and friendly. He was happy to chat about his time in Sardinia and how he took the name Il Rifugio from the restaurant where he lived and worked during his time there.
Here's the Il Rifugio web site...
Here's a map link...
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