tokyo food file: wagyu burger

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…

My year-end column is now up in The Japan Times. You can read the whole thing on the JT website… But here are a few more images of some of the many people and places that made eating out in Tokyo so exciting during 2015…

• Event of the Year…

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 Ginza hosted 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…