We've found a replacement for ex-favorite Chez Patrick Deli.
Serge et Le Phoque, positioned quirkily amidst the butchers and fishmongers of Wan Chai Market.
I had to break my rule about taking photos of my food. This was just too pretty!
A starter of hen egg cooked at a precise 60 degrees, in a broth made with bellota ham in lieu of the squid ink which I'm allergic to. The very charming Charles, partner and designer, had quickly arranged for this substitution. Perched on the plate rim were five slender whitebait tempura and a mound of charred corn kernels.
My main course of slow-cooked pork belly was perfectly turned out- the flesh tender and full of flavor, the skin crispy above the precious layer of fat. All good, but for me, a little overwhelming as I'm not used to eating pure, in-your-face fat. The essential balance was provided by an artful arrangement of a sliver of herring, a spoonful of onion marmalade, and a dollop of some kind of chili paste, which jolted me out of my impending fat-induced brain fog.
Verdict: superior! I will be back tomorrow but I'm going for the fish ceviche this time.
Labels: Hong Kong, restaurant, Serge et Le Phoque, Wan Chai
It's beautiful, crystal clear, sunny and very cold. I pick my way carefully on the icy concrete steps of the bridge across from Tokyo Midtown. We're at the 21-21 Sight Design Museum.
This is easily my favorite place in all of Tokyo. In all of Japan even.
Starting with the building. Design by Tadao Ando. Sits low on the ground, blending seamlessly with the sleek, strictly curated landscape of slender trees and grass.
I like what it stands for. The genius of design.
I love being here. I feel as though nothing bad can happen here. I feel protected and secure in a world where beautiful things are created.
The interior is a study in light and shadow. A video of design master Ettore Sotsass is on a continuous loop, in which he says light is a language, with nouns and verbs and such. This structure totally gets it.
Design. Different. Crafting. Uniquely.
A plasticine chair, flowers in jello.
Centuries-old craft for a centuries-old ritual. A paper garment worn by monks.
There's an evocative image of a monk running with a fiery torch. The garment on show beside the video is slightly burned, discoloured, its edges curled and singed.
A chair. Pure crystal.
The ultimate in flat-packing.
Labels: 21-21 Design Museum, Tokyo Midtown
There's a place we go to for sushi in Roppongi Hills- we don't even know the name; we just know how to get there. It's small and plain and rather dark, so we like to sit at the counter where we can watch the action. A good part of the joy of sushi is watching it being made.
Today, there's no room at the counter, so we left sushi for another time and went in search of somewhere else for lunch.
We settled on a restaurant called simply Vegetable Restaurant.
It's not a vegetarian restaurant but it obviously takes its vegetables very seriously. Carrots are the featured vegetable of the season. It's a very special winter variety that is reportedly extra flavorful and sweet.
I prefer my vegetables green so I opted out of the all-carrot menu.
I chose a fish set menu because it looked good in the picture. Well, it looked even better in person. And it was delicious!
The fish was cooked in a rich vegetable broth and served with black and purple rice topped with small cuts of fried fish, lotus root, fish roe, and omelette strips.
Labels: Roppongi, Tokyo, Vegetable Restaurant
Monday was sunny and mild, a perfect day for walking around the streets of the Azabu-juban district with its quirky shops, health food stores, ice cream and candy stores, and an amazing number of pet grooming parlours.
A big crowd was assembled for the Setsubun festival signaling the end of winter.
At first, the shopping bags held aloft puzzled me. Was I supposed to bring my shopping to be blessed?
At the stroke of the hour, beans and candy started flying out from the tiny kiosk where ladies in traditional Japanese dress ministered to the faithful clamoring for a share of the beans being scattered to drive away evil on the last day of winter.
This little girl tearfully nursed a bloody finger hurt in the fray.
And this little girl gleefully posed for a picture. 😄
The neighborhood dispatched a cleaning crew between the hourly sessions. Even little children helped in the cleanup, carefully sweeping up beans in the pagoda kiosk with tiny brooms.
Local police closed off the street to car traffic. Prams were dutifully parked on the curb.
I think maybe this End of Winter Festival might have been a bit premature. It wasn't that warm yet!
Labels: Azabu-juban, End of Winter Festival, Setsubun, Tokyo
Keyakizaka Teppanyaki, Roppongi Hills
The restaurant is a cross between Japanese and Mediterranean.
Fresh produce is on tap.
Teppanyaki. It's a style of cooking that I find simple and elegant, balletic and edgy all at the same time.
There is something uniquely personal about having your meal cooked at your table. Or is it eating your meal at the stove? The cook looks at you, converses with you, gets an immediate reaction from you.
I'm watching my dessert cooking, totally fascinated.The berry clafoutis is prepared teppan style- under a copper dome.
Suddenly, the lady manager is picking up my bag, my scarf, all my stuff. We are to have dessert on the patio.
Verdict on the food: Delicious, refined, surprisingly light. There are meals, usually when I'm traveling, where I feel a need to mix things up a bit by having wine or a sweet or coffee. Not this time. This meal is totally eclectic: Royal soup with medicinal herbs- I recognized the white fungus. Minestrone. Angler in truffle broth en papillote. Rock fish (more on this later) with a dip made with dried tomatoes, capers, and anchovies. Clafoutis.
Brilliant!
Labels: KeyakizakaTeppanyaki, Tokyo
