fall 2009
celebratedliving.com
42
Tokyo
fOOD
Global Gourmet Guide
Whenhe’s notwhisking the likes of AnthonyBourdain tohis favorite secret
sushi haunts, Tokyo food guide ShinjiNohara jet-sets betweenmanyof the
world’s culinary capitals. But his loyalties are clear. “InTokyo, we get better
baguettes and croissants than inParis,” insistsNohara. “It’s not justme saying
this— Frenchpeople living inTokyo agree.”NewYork-based IronChef
MasaharuMoriMoto
explains: “InTokyo, competition is erce andpeople are
always hungry for something new; but at the same time they quickly giveupon
anything that is not good. Restaurantsmust stayoriginal and creative.”
EaT
“If Sushi Masa in New York can get
threeMichelin stars,” insists Nohara,
“more than 100 sushi restaurants
should qualify inTokyo.” His top five:
sushi shou
inYotsuya (011-81-3-3351-
6387),
sushi Miyaha
inHamamatsucho
(011-81-3-3431-3880),
sushi sawada
(011-81-3-3571-4711) and
ginza haru-
taka
(011-81-3-3573-1144) inGinza, and
sushi araki
in Yoga (011-81-3-3705-
2256). Ifyourpalate turnsmore tobeef,
Nohara swears by
aragawa
in Shin-
bashi (011-81-3-3591-8765), a steak
kaiseki
house ranked as one of the
world’smostexpensiverestaurants, as
well as
dons de la nature
in Ginza
(011-81-3-3563-4129),whichservesJap-
aneseblack-hairedcattle thatareaged
in a special locker. and those looking
for familiarnameswill find that avast
number of celebrity chefs, including
gordon raMsay
(gordonramsay.com/
Tokyo),
alain ducasse
(beige-tokyo.
com), and
danny Meyer
(unionsquare
cafe.com/ustokyodiary) have Tokyo
restaurants in theirglobal empires.
Dr ink
Ifyouare inneedof a refreshingdrink,
aoyaMa’sBarrage
(011-81-3-5467-3977)
has devoted itself to creating the per-
fect fruity cocktails. Morimoto’s picks
lean towards restaurant bars and in-
clude
taMa
, located across the street
from aoyama Gakuin University in
aoyama, Shibuya-ku (tama2007.jp),
and
two rooMs
in Omotesando,
Shibuya-ku (tworooms.jp).
Sho p
Home cooks will love roaming
kap-
paBashi street
between Ueno and
asakusa in Taito-ku, also known as
“KitchenTown.” “It’swhere chefs and
restaurant owners frequent,”saysMo-
rimoto, “like Bowery Street in New
York, but even more fun.” It’s lined
with dozens of stores specializing in
everything from dishes to utensils,
andyou can evenfind the quirkyplas-
ticandwax foodsamplesusedbymany
Japanese restaurants in their show
windows.
VEnTur E ouT
for an ocean-side jaunt just outside the
Tokyo bustle, Morimoto suggests Ka-
makura City, located south of Tokyo
along the PacificOcean. “Dine at
Bills
(bills-jp.net) for breakfast or lunch and
kaMakura izuMi
for dinner,” suggests
Morimoto. “and for a perfect souvenir,
purchase
Hato Sabure
, large pigeon-
shapedcookies.”
➤
TOP:
©PeTer “HOPPer”STOne,BeLOW LeFT:
©ArAGAWA,TOPcenTer:
© S.MizOGucHi
clockwise from top: chef MasaharuMorimoto; aragawa, a steak kaiseki house ranked as one of theworld’smost expensive restaurants;
breakfast fare at Bills; the liquor lineup at Bar rage; and tama
