kazuo

Definitely Japan, with a slight preference for Tokyo over Kyoto, Sendai or Sapporo. Tokyo is a world-class food city, albeit one needs every last yen of the unlimited budget that Melissa posits. By way of example, we've been entertaining clients this week: Monday: Tempura at a small (8 person) counter restaurant, no choices as the chef selects based on the freshest seasonal items, washed down with Kubota no manju sake Tuesday: Kappo (think kaiseki without the pomp, circumstance and kimonos), ethereal stuff, again more sake (Bishonen) Wednesday: French (one star equivalent), three amuses, roasted cepes, guinea fowl, Krug followed by 1989 La Conseillante, digestifs with dessert Tonight: Sushi And we haven't even started with Italian, Chinese, Korean . . .

More recent wines: 2001 Janasse Chateauneuf (regular, not VV or Chaupin): very forward, voluptuous and weighty with sweet fruit (figs, berries), yet depth and structure to last for a few years (lovely with grilled lamb chops and roasted peppers and root vegetables) 2000 FX Pichler Riesling Smaragd Durnsteiner: lush, complex, minerally nose with muted tropical fruit, way too young but still delicious with Sunday lunch (goat cheese and apple with salad greens) 1997 Tua Rita Redigaffi: shocking sweet, full of chocolate and blackberries, but seems "simple" compared to Masseto or Messorio, not to mention the left bank (with roast chicken) 1980 La Tache and Grands: opened, sadly, at a friend's wake, La Tache was stunning, pale in color but with tremendous depth of flavor and a haunting nose, Grands less impressive, still lovely but finishes a bit short, for those who have these wines, drink up 1999 Flint Gary's Pinot: kirsch, cola and somewhat overextracted fruit, nice initially but liked it less and less as it developed (with grilled flounder dusted with cumin and Indian spices) 1989 Gruaud Larose: surprisingly mature, lacks the typical Gruaud power, but lovely cedar and tobacco nose and excellent balance (with sauteed mushrooms and polenta) 1996 Dom Perignion: hmm, a wine that has engendered a lot of positive comments among friends, yeasty, toasty nose and good acidity, but I can think of many other sparklers I'd rather buy

Jim: Glad to hear that you made it through the recent spate of terrible weather, and hope that things are getting back to normal. Always look forward to your posts. The 96 Ponsots that I've had have been pretty awful; even the Clos de la Roche VV and Griotte are strangely acidic and thin. When Ponsot gets it right (80, 85, 88, 90, 93), the wines are really enjoyable, but you're (sadly) right about the 96's.

I suspect many would be hard-pressed to pick it out as discernably Italian if it was placed in a (blind) tasting with a group of relatively forward bordeaux. I guess I don't tend to get all that worked up about "typicity" especially where the Tuscan blends are concerned (Brunello, now that's a different issue). Still, I thought the Solengo was pretty lovely; if you have a few bottles, it's worth opening. I didn't decant out of pure sloth (the decanters live on a high and difficult to access shelf) but should have. If you get around to trying it, please post your thoughts. I've got a pretty simple (ok, primitive) palate and always appreciate others' views.

Some recent wines (on something of an Italian kick right now for some reason): 2001 Tua Rita Giustro di Notri - inky, youthful, but surprisingly ripe, enjoyable now but really needs a few years to show its best, not discernably Italian, but given that it is cab/merlot, I guess this is no surprise. 1998 Masseto - largely, if not 100%, merlot, and really very lovely to drink now, will no doubt improve, but shows nice black fruit and none of the "green" notes that merlot sometimes shows. 2001 Zuc di Volpe Focus - another Italian merlot, has just a hint of the green note that was absent in the Masseto, fruit and structure are not as developed as the Masseto either. 2000 Argiano Solengo - ok, now I get it. Prior vintages (95, 96 and 97) never really did much for me, but the 2000 is really lovely, full of sweet (albeit primary) fruit, with terrific balance, so nice now that I'm tempted to drink more but will wait a bit for the next bottle. 1998 Macchiole Scrio - opened by a generous friend, apparently only 50 cases or so made each year, still very youthful (bordering on infanticide, really), interesting black truffle/asphalt nose, lots of blackberry hidden under the tannins. 1997 Stag's Cask 23 - ugh, all the rumors about the fall in quality of this cuvee are true, nice enough cab but disappointing in the context of the vintage. The 84 and 85 were world's better.

Orik: Check out the thread that Kristin pinned. Some excellent info in there. I'm not much of a ramen fan, but if you check for posts by Bon, there is a wealth of information. There is also a short thread on Italian restaurants in Tokyo that has some recommendations if you feel the need for a pasta fix while you're here. Now, for some (hopefully) relevant suggestions (most of these should be in Zagat; I've included a phone number for those that I suspect are not): Sushi: If you're relatively new to Tokyo and are not dining with people who already are regulars some place, it might be better to stick to places that are used to a mix of regulars and first-timers. There are some famous names (Jiro, Kyubei) that are uniformly quite good and breathtakingly expensive. Midori Zushi also gets good reviews but isn't as expensive. There are also a number of places adjacent to the wholesale market in Tsukiji for the obligatory sushi breakfast after checking out the markets. Unagi: Miyagawa is pretty good as a general rule. I haven't been to Yama no chaya in years, but it's about as close to a kaiseki eel dinner as you can find - it's pretty expensive (I last went in 2000 and dinner was about 30,000 yen per). Okonomiyaki: Just about any place you go will beat the heck out of anything you can find outside Japan. As long as you're having okonomiyaki, you might as well try monjanyaki as well (see the okonomiyaki thread). French: In the thread that Kristin pinned, there's a recommendation for Le Bourginion in Nishi Azabu. Highly recommended; it has a tremendous wine list (Huet Vouvrays from the 50's and 60's, Gannoux Pommards from the 50's, etc.)for such a small (22 seats) place. Cote D'Or in Mita is also quite nice. Other: There was a recommendation from Sinbad (I think) for Wakon Yosai (3479-0539) in Nishi Azabu, with which I fully concur. It's a Kyushu style izakaya. Other izakaya that merit a look (most require some ability to read or speak Japanese): Sasano (3475-6055) near Nogizaki Matsu (3442-3915) in Ebisu Odajima (3401-3345) in Roppongi Sakura (3409-8683) in Minami Aoyama Enjoy.

Inspired by this thread, today's lunch is kimchee omuraisu - kimchee, garlic and bacon fried rice in the omelette, sauced (lightly) with a mix of ketchup and chipolte. Not bad, but will have to work on the sauce - bit too much of a clash of flavors between the chipolte and kimchee.

Orik: Zagat Tokyo seems reasonably accurate for Western food (at least for those restaurants that I've been to), but the Japanese food coverage tends to focus on places that are well known and/or that can handle foreign guests (not a big surprise, given the target market). I've found that for Japanese food, one is best served by relying on friends who live in Japan for recommendations. With that in mind, let us know what kind of places you're interested in, and I'm sure that you'll get a number of responses. There are also a couple of threads in the Japan board that cover Tokyo restaurants that you might want to skim through. I looked at them a few days ago and found many of the recommendations concur with my own views (one can argue if this is a good thing or not). Look forward to hearing from you.

Jim: Agreed on the 93 Ponsot Griotte; it's really lovely, developing the nuance and subtlety that I enjoy in older burgs, but should continue to give great drinking pleasure for some time to come. Hope you still have a few remaining in the cellar. Ours was consumed last week over Sunday lunch with roast chicken, grilled hangar steak and roasted vegetables.

Normally summertime at our house means sancerre, roses and the occasional morgon or fleurie, but between having house guests (who prefer red wine) and my spouse's wine-loving boss in town, the past week found us consuming: With guests: 1997 Pieve Santa Restituta Sugarille and Rennina - both lovely, Sugarille was more closed initially but blossomed with a clove and smoke nose, very full and slightly sweet, Rennina more forward (both decanted 1 hour before serving) Above consumed with lamb chops marinated in olive oil, garlic, pepper and rosemary, potatoes sauteed in duck fat and garlic, and spinach sauteed with olive oil, pine nuts and red pepper. 1995 Murrieta Castillo Ygay - surprisingly forward, fuller in body than the Brunellos, cedar-y nose, but eminently drinkable and surprisingly nice match with the dried fruit (decanted 2 hours before serving) Above consumed with assorted cheeses, walnut bread and dried fruits. With the spouse's visiting boss: 2000 Bouchard Chevalier Montrachet (regular bottling, not la Cabotte) - from 375's, lemony, waxy nose, bit high in acidity, has weight but something seems out of whack Above consumed with raw scallop and snapper dizzled in ponzu and minced green onion. 1967 DRC Richebourg - DOA, pity 1993 DRC Romanee St. Vivant (the boss is a DRC fan) - a decent showing albeit the wine is still quite young, a bit tannic, but lovely St. Vivant nose peeking through (not decanted but should have been) Above with a composed salad of duck confit, chicken gizzards and foie gras 2000 Mouton - this will teach me to allow strangers into the wine cellar, decanted and promptly served, shockingly forward, although still all primary, this should be fabulous in my retirement Above with wagyu filet roast and various roasted vegetables. At various times with visiting guests: 1990 Roty Griotte - corked (arrgh) 1990 Jadot Romanee St. Vivant - just lovely, weighty but balanced, wow 1999 Nicholas Potel Volnay (Champans, I think) - bright red fruit, not great depth but really evocative of summer 1999 Peby Faugeres - chocolately at first (thought I'd opened the wrong bottle), then developed more nuance, cedar, coffee, spices, very, very nice Apologies for the long post. Now off to dry out.

Walt: Nice blog. Did you go to one of the Claremont schools by any chance? When I lived in the US, Liquorama was one of my favorite places to hunt for bargains amidst the myriad selection of wines.

Enjoyed Craftsteak last Saturday (5/29); group of 6 had hanger steak, 2 porterhouses for two, shortribs (indeed sublime), grass fed ribeye and grain fed ribeye (yes, we're pigs). Tremendous sides: snap peas and spinach were the table faves, although I thought the polenta was fantastic. Wines: Phelps Insignia 97 and Haut Brion 90; HB probably needed to be decanted earlier, as it didn't show well until later in the meal. Service was good, especially considering the restaurant was packed on a holiday weekend.

Most department stores have a decent selection; personally I like the selections at the Tokyu Honten (Bunkamura) and Takashimaya in Nihonbashi. There are specialty shops around town, but unless your friend knows Tokyo well and has time to search out these places, it might be faster to go the department store route. Personal favorites that are reasonably easy to find include Tsukasa Botan, Suigei, Kubota Manju, Bishonen, etc. There are a number of small production, artisanal sakes as well but I don't keep up with these. I recall that both Tokyu and Takashimaya have a sake specialist on staff to make recommendations.

Not a food application of ume per se, but a bar near the office makes a shiso-ume hi involving shiso shochu poured over one or more ume muddled with ice in a highball glass with a squeeze of sudachi.

Kristin: Thanks for the welcome. Jim: I prefer La Gola to Boccalone, but it's hard to fault either. I just think that the food is better executed at La Gola over a wider range (particularly with fish dishes), and the presence of a reserve list at La Gola (be sure to ask about the prices though - breathtaking at times) pushes it over the top. But I do wish it were located in some other neighborhood. That said, Boccalone is still good (it was really popular when it opened 10 years ago and I think the food quality suffered during its peak popularity; the standard of execution is higher now). I'm sure Boccalone would do something along the lines of omakase, even if it just means having the chef select his or her favorites from the menu. No reserve list that I'm aware of at Boccalone (I've asked but been told there is none). Croce is Piemonte focused in both food and wine. Don't know if you'd call it a Piemonte classic per se, but we had a lovely rabbit braised in Barolo back in November.

Jim: Some other places that you might want to consider (in no specific order of preference): Cucina Hirata 3457-0094 or its wine bar sibling Vino Hirata 3456-4744, both in Azabu Juban. Cucina is spare and focuses on seasonal ingredients; Vino is much more informal. Neither is for the faint of wallet. La Gola 5410-5550 (Roppongi). Small, always crowded, food is better than Boccalone (my view only). Principal drawback is that it's in Roppongi. La Patata 3403-9664 (Gaienmae). A sentimental favorite, lovely little room (make sure to make reservations or you get stuck downstairs), our best meals have been when we ordered omakase. Yamazaki 3479-4657 (near Nogizaka/Aoyama 1-chome). Dark and intimate, draws a mature, quiet crowd. Depth in the wine list with a number of older (80's) vintage Soldera Brunellos. Not inexpensive. Not to be confused with Ristorante Hamasaki which is run by Yamazaki's old chef and is often booked - I still think Yamazaki is better. Croce & Delizia 5770-2310 (on Tere-Asa Dori near Roppongi Hills). Piemonte specialists, course menus are a bargain but too much food for us. Fair wine list but also has a library selection that is meted out judiciously (another table asked for a 1996 Sandrone Barolo that was in plain sight in the wine cooler, only to be told that it was "not ready"). La Bisboccia 3449-1470 (Tengenjibashi, across from Hiroo Hospital). Stylistically close to Boccalone, but food is not quite up to the same standard. Loud, big space, draws a lot of expats (judge for yourself if this is a good thing or not). Ca Angeli 3423-1224 (Omotesando). Nice well lit space, terrific for weekend lunches (although dinner is fine as well). Wine list has depth and has some relative bargains. Hope this helps.