The Italian restaurant

 

The weather remains good. Tokyo is as far south as Los Angeles so this should come as no surprise to us but it does. Last year we were here in March and it was just like home - cold and wet. Our hotel room has a window that overlooks the gardens of the Imperial Palace. Every so often the sound of marching guards and shouted commands drifts up towards us on the 23rd floor.

In the evening we head off for a pre-dinner drink. The concierge at our hotel has told us to catch the sunset from the roof top bar at 'The Edition' in Ginza. " It is very cool " she explains in case we might not recognize cool when we see it. Perhaps my maroon cords and tweed jacket don't fit the bill. When we get there we find the place is full of twenty something New Yorkers studiously  ignoring the sunset and staring intently at their mobile phones. Patagonia branded clothing, as worn by Ginnys 'grandson' , is much in evidence. It is clearly the 'in' label. The youngsters have that monied ennui that says this place is ok but not as cool as that bar in Machu Pichu they went to last month. In some cultures this would count as boorishness.

The doorman at the hip hotel is a British teenager who speaks Japanese with a decidedly upmarket English accent. In fact it's the sort of accent that would put the royal family's diction to shame. He's been here a week - his family having despatched him from Buckinghamshire to Tokyo for a year to improve his language skills. He's been told to work and has somehow , in that serendipitous way that makes the world go round , ended up here. The youngster tells us he's having great fun. " I might never go home " said in that amazed tone of voice that God reserves for eighteen year olds discovering life on their own. We wish him well. His mother may not be so happy with his enthusiasm. He gets a 'healthy' tip and beams.

Despite it being Golden Week Ginza is quiet. It's our chance to try an Italian restaurant we've heard fun things about. Fun is categorically different from good but in this case we hope the two are one and the same.

The place is decorated in green. This is unusual.

The staff are all local and speak Italian with strong Japanese accents. They manage to understand our equally heavily accented Italian. They also have an exceedingly good ( and reasonable ) wine list. A bottle of Ca del' Bosco Franciacorta gets the evening off to a good start. Interestingly, the other diners are all Italian which we take to be a sign that the food will pass muster. Angus is greatly taken with a strawberry chocolate egg which is proof positive that 'fun' and 'good' can coexist. 

This morning people queuing up at the bakers twenty minutes before it opens. We've also seen long lines for churned butter which must be a Japanese thing.

One of the bizarre things about Japan is how cheap it is. Dining out is 50%, maybe 60%, of the price of dining out in London or Manhattan. We have a few more days here before heading north. Tonight we shall try to track down some local wine .

Catholic scents :https://miccaeli.substack.com/p/incense-perfumes-on-the-eve-of-conclave

Food safety :https://www.popsci.com/health/food-safety-before-fda/

People watching :https://skincontact.substack.com/p/21-observations-from-people-watching

Some Canadian poetry :https://judegoodwin.substack.com/p/merlin