The Tokyo Hit List, Summer 2023 Edition: Sezanne, Ginza Hachigo, The Upper, and More

We knew to expect great things from Sezanne, the contemporary French restaurant led by former Per Se sous-chef Daniel Calvert. Within months of its launch in 2021, Sezanne received its first Michelin star, followed by a second in the 2023 red guide. And now, it’s been crowned the Best Restaurant in Japan, climbing to the number-two position on this year’s list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Calvert merges the timeless elegance of Paris’s fine dining institutions with a playful approach to French cuisine that he encountered during his tenure at Per Se. The seasonal menu strikes a balance between classic and creative, with dishes that are eclectic, precise, and technically brilliant. One highlight is the buttery-textured, Reisling-poached foie gras with apricot and verbena sauce. Shanghainese drunken crab is reimagined as a delicate tart dusted with gold-leaf shimmer, while pinky-sized firefly squid are stuffed with zesty piperade and drizzled with basil sauce. Pairing courses are on offer, but Calvert’s cuisine works exceptionally well with Champagne; the wine list features bottles from big names like Krug to grower-producers like Ulysse Collin.

Meanwhile, architect Andre Fu designed the clean-lined interior on the 7^th floor of the Four Seasons Marunouchi, with soft leather tabletops and motifs inspired by Zen rock gardens. The restaurant’s Christofle trolley, stocked with five varieties of Champagne by the glass, adds a touch of old-world glamor to the cool-toned, minimalist dining space and makes every meal at Sezanne feel like a celebration.

More info here, or call +81-(0)3-522-5810

You won’t find fusion or edgy modern cuisine at Kagurazaka Oishinbo, but that’s precisely the point. The restaurant’s charm lies in its adherence to tradition, both in terms of food and ambience. Located in a wonderfully maintained Japanese-style wooden house concealed along a cobblestone alley in Kagurazaka, Oishinbo is the place for simple and delicious Japanese dishes such as spring rolls wrapped in delicate yuba (soymilk skin), chewy squares of fu (gluten) slathered in red or white miso paste, and bowls of wagyu beef simmered in soy sauce with sweet onions served over rice. Enjoy your meal at low tables surrounded by cushions on the tatami-mat flooring in the main dining room, which overlooks a tranquil, postcard-sized Japanese garden.

Chef Kenji Oana, a 10-year veteran of the esteemed Sushi Sho, took his talents and opened Takumi Sushi Owana in 2017, offering an omakase menu of meticulously crafted nigiri sushi interspersed with delightful ostumami (small plates) in a relaxed atmosphere. The refined space is stark and brilliantly crisp, with spotlights illuminating the counter made of Japanese cypress.

Oana sources his seafood directly from purveyors to ensure the highest quality. From artisanal red or white rice vinegar – which he adjusts according to the style of sushi he’s making – to the carefully selected variety of rice from Miyagi Prefecture, his attention to detail comes through in every aspect of the cuisine. Although his sushi remains faithful to tradition, there are touches of creative flair in the precisely scored sardine accented with shiso flowers and soy-marinated onion, or the savory morsel of minced fatty tuna mixed with scallions and pickled daikon, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

With eight seats at the counter and a private room for six, the restaurant was designed to be accessible to small groups as well as families with children – rare in a city where children under 12 are typically not allowed in fine dining settings. Oana is the opposite of the stern and intimidating sushi chef often depicted in films. His affable charm has made the restaurant a local favorite.

Make reservations online here, or via Pocket Concierge. Alternatively, call +81-(0)50-5487-9927.

Wood-fire cooking is the latest trend to sweep across Tokyo. For the most part, the technique has been limited to European-style cuisine, but the talented young chef Yu Kunisue is bringing live fire to Japanese kaiseki at this intimate, seven-seat venue. Situated up three flights of narrow stairs in an unremarkable building in the Shibuya neighborhood, the restaurant’s Zen-like ambience reflects its name, which means “nature” in Japanese. Roughly plastered, earth-toned walls and a counter that wraps around the tiny open kitchen create an atmosphere of intimacy. Kunisue plies his trade at the fire pit built into the exterior wall at the far end of the room.

Rooted in traditional Japanese cuisine and accented with international flavors, the seasonal menu displays subtlety and inventiveness. The seared sumagatsuo (mackerel tuna), served with a bright sauce of fermented tomato and green tea, gains depth from a lick of flame. Kunisue, who became enamored with wood-fire cooking and European fermentation techniques while working in France, uses foraged ingredients in the original condiments that appear in the multicourse omakase menu. He adds Japanese cypress leaves to yuzukosho made with Japanese citrus and green chilies, ferments wild mountain vegetables, and pickles the zesty berries of kuromoji (a kind of evergreen shrub) in salt. The beverage pairing course that’s included in the price features a selection of natural wines, sake and beer, along with homemade kombuchas. Though only opened in late January, the restaurant has already gained a following.

More info here, or call +81-(0)3-3746-1334.

15 years ago, Zaiyu Hasegawa founded the Japanese restaurant Den with a simple but heartfelt mission: to bring joy to people with his playful approach to kaiseki cuisine. Despite a string of accolades that includes two Michelin stars and the top slot on last year’s list of Asia’s 50 Best restaurants, he’s stayed true to this humble objective.

The son of a former geisha, Hasegawa learned the art of hospitality at an early age; the convivial atmosphere inside Den’s bustling, bright interior is a far cry from the stiff formality often found at traditional Japanese restaurants. Seating is concentrated around a massive communal table positioned in front of the open kitchen, with a small private room that affords a view of the chefs at work. Polished yet warm service is overseen by Emi, Hasegawa’s partner in life as well as business, who greets each guest with a beaming smile and – more often than not – a hug.

The menu invariably includes a version of the monaka rice wafer filled with foie gras and dried persimmon, along with the signature salad decorated with carrots cut into smiley faces, and Dentucky Fried Chicken – a crispy chicken wing stuffed with seasonal ingredients like gingko nuts or mushrooms. Always a show-stopper, the clay-pot cooked rice might contain jewel-toned ikura salmon roe steeped in dashi and soy sauce, wild mountain vegetables with the flowering buds of sansho Japanese pepper, or deep-fried sakura-ebi prawns. Emi pours sake to match from small-batch producers and ensures that your experience is nothing less than perfect.

For reservations, please call +81-(0)3-6440-0878. More info here.

While Tokyo is a food lover’s paradise, vegetarian and vegan options can still be hard to find. With five locations in Tokyo and Kyoto, Ain Soph has been a pioneering force in the vegan movement since 2009. The Japanese-fusion food is 100% plant-based – no milk or honey here – prepared according to Buddhist culinary principles without the use of garlic or onions. The restaurant group’s main branch, spanning four floors of a narrow building in the Ginza district, features a spare but stylish interior of stone and wood accented with antique furnishings selected by the owner. There’s table seating on the second and third floors, while the fourth floor is covered in tatami-mat flooring upon which sit low tables and zabuton cushions.

The vegan bakery on the first floor sells delectable dairy-free treats like tiramisu flavored with bittersweet amanatsu citrus and cacao nibs. The lunch set is a colorful assortment of small bites like spring rolls stuffed with fresh vegetables, pickled turnips, and crispy soy-based karaage fried “chicken.” Dinner offers multicourse menus that include creative morsels of nigiri sushi made with marinated vegetables or hand-rolled sushi rolls.

Three-Michelin-starred chef Niko Romito, of Reale in Italy’s Abruzzo region, brings a thoughtful, minimalist approach at his eponymous restaurant in the business district surrounding Tokyo station. Located on the 40^th floor of the brand-new Bulgari Hotel, the restaurant provides a stunning backdrop for Romito’s creations. Architects Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel have outfitted the space with a fireplace lounge and window walls offering views of the Imperial Palace. The magnificent vaulted ceiling, adorned with wood paneling, culminates in a peaked arch that recalls a Venetian colonnade, creating a beautiful contrast with the walls painted in striking hues of orange and charcoal gray.

A complement to Bulgari’s fine-dining flagship inside the nearby Bulgari Ginza Tower, Il Ristorante Luca Fantin, Romito’s restaurant features a casual-but-sophisticated menu of modern Italian fare. The tasting menu opens with small bites like velvety vittelo tonnato, a succulent oyster atop horseradish cream, and a deep-fried dumpling filled with pasta in a smoky cheese sauce. In spring, a verdant vegetarian lasagna is followed by crispy-skinned roast suckling pig and a parfait of ricotta ice cream layered with cherries drizzled with balsamic vinegar. To pair, the sommelier cracks open bottles from Italy and beyond, starting with a glass of Ca’Del Bosco Anna Maria Clementi.

Upstairs on the 45^th floor, Il Bar dazzles with its 200 square-meter terrace and colorful mosaic evocative of a garden in ancient Rome. Cocktails like the negroni made with Campari Cask Tales and DiBaldo vermouth are every bit as spectacular as the setting.

More info here, or call +81-(0)3-6362-1270.

Yasushi Matsumura’s path to becoming a ramen chef was anything but typical. After 36 years working in French cuisine, he embarked on a journey across Japan to slurp noodles from every region. The Michelin-starred bowls at Ginza Hachigo, his third ramen restaurant, represent the culmination of his travels. The secret to Hachigo’s success is the broth, a rich consommé of Nagoya Cochin chicken, duck, shellfish, shiitake mushrooms, and kelp, with extra umami depth from the addition of cured ham. Matsumura eschews the usual tare seasoning (a concentrated sauce), opting instead for French salt to finish the dish. Topped with strands of menma pickled bamboo shoots, slivers of green onion, and a few slices of succulent chashu pork, the result is wonderfully balanced – deeply flavorful without a trace of heaviness.

With only six seats, be prepared for a considerable wait. Recently, the restaurant introduced a ticketing system requiring a deposit of ¥1,000 per person for a maximum of six tickets, but lines begin forming well ahead of the distribution times of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Your patience, however, will be rewarded with one of the best bowls of ramen in the city.

No advance reservations. For more info, call +81-(0)3-6228-4141.

The Pig and the Lady has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a pop-up in a family garage in Honolulu. By putting a Hawaiian spin on his mother’s Vietnamese recipes (think oxtail pho brightened with basil-onion pesto) head chef and owner Andrew Lee turned the business into an award-winning chain of restaurants that expanded to Tokyo in 2019. Located in an airy space in Ebisu, the 84-seat eatery (huge by Tokyo standards) is just the spot for last-minute lunch plans or casual dinners for a large group.

Abundant foliage, wicker chairs, and wooden light fixtures radiate aloha vibes, as do dishes like the ahi-and-avocado toast, along with Kona beers by the bottle. Le Fried Chicken, succulent chicken wings sprinkled with peanuts and doused in a tangy sauce spiked with lemongrass, is a standout, as is the slow-cooked brisket banh mi, served with a bowl of pho broth so you can eat the sandwich French-dip style. The generous portions are meant for sharing. Wash it all down with a selection of New World wines or original cocktails, before a dessert of Portuguese donuts with mango and coconut ice cream.

For the past ten years, Hiroyasu Kawate has been one of the drivers behind the rise of Japanese-inflected French cuisine that proudly declares its Japanese identity. The tasting menu at two-starred Florilege shines with assertive flavors, surprising combinations, and flawless technique, while staying true to the restaurant’s no-waste ethos. In the signature sardine chaud-froid, raw sardine fillets are wrapped in shiso leaf with pickled ginger and then veiled in a ginger-scented gelatin, while the rest of the fish (bones and all) goes into a pate spread on a pillowy blini. Kawate makes magic with even humble ingredients like daikon radish, which he simmers in dashi and encases in a deep-fried shell of mochi. The “pie” is crowned with caviar and finished with daikon puree and roasted kelp oil.

Likewise, Florilege’s decor helped define the aesthetic of modern Japanese cool. The dimly lit main dining area resembles a theater, with an ash-grey stone counter surrounding the open kitchen. The team works under spotlights, as they chop, sautee, and grill amid a profusion of dramatic ikebana flower arrangements. This year, however, will be your last chance to catch Florilege in its current setting, before it moves to new digs in the Kyobashi financial district.

For reservations, book online, or call +81-(0)3-6440-0878. More info here. 

Virgilio Martinez has brought a fresh new flavor to Tokyo’s food scene with the opening of Maz – the Tokyo outpost of acclaimed restaurant Central in Lima. With chef Santiago Fernandez at the helm, this 25-seat gem is all about immersing diners in the diverse food traditions of Peru. The tasting menu takes guests on a journey through the country’s topography in nine inventive courses. The menu changes with the seasons but might include sweet king crab layered atop a spiced pumpkin stew, served alongside a beignet crowned with sea urchin and drizzled with sea urchin caramel; or tender octopus topped with shocking blue spirulina foam and umibudo “sea grapes.” But the meal will almost certainly end with a spread of creative desserts made with chuncho cacao, a rare variety from the Amazonian regions of Peru.

Maz explores the relationship between Peru and Japan in what Martinez describes as the legacy of “flying seeds.” The expression is more than mere metaphor: Peruvian varieties of vegetables have been grown in Japan for decades, meaning that the restaurant sources more than 80% of its ingredients locally. Fernandez marries Japanese produce with Peruvian techniques in a dish of fava bean pods stuffed with mountain vegetables and baked in a salt crust made with medicinal clay from the Andes. The drinks list, too, offers something different, with South American wines, unique distillations from Martinez’s Mater Iniciativa, and sweet wines made from the olluco tuber.

Book online here or via Pocket Concierge. Alternatively, call +81-(0)3-6272-8513.

Norihito Nemoto transports diners to fin de siècle Paris by way of Tokyo at Bistro Nemot, tucked into a cozy corner of the Eat, Play, Works upscale food hall in the Hiroo neighborhood. Belle-Époque signage and black-and-white photos adorn the burgundy-colored walls lined with simple black banquettes, while a blackboard announces the daily specials.

From the restaurant’s compact kitchen with counter seating for eight, Nemoto, the former sous chef of three-Michelin-starred L’effervescence, turns out creative and refined takes on brasserie classics: white-bean cassoulet topped with parsley-and-breadcrumb encrusted duck confit, salmon en croute layered with mushrooms and topped with jewel-toned salmon roe, and a perfectly gooey soft-boiled egg wrapped in a crêpe and served with parsley emulsion. Japanese ingredients and sensibilities shine in dishes like thinly sliced aorika (big-fin squid) nestled among salad greens with citrus, and ayu sweetfish confit rolled in flaky phyllo dough finished with a sauce of wasabi, cucumber, and watermelon. The mostly natural wine list showcases off-the-beaten-path selections from Austria, Australia, and Georgia.

In a neighborhood brimming with stylish bars and izakaya (Japanese pubs), Shoto Lamp already stands out for its trifecta of expert cooking combined with a carefully curated drinks list and accessible prices. Chef Nobuhiro Kakinoki goes a step further by devising personalized menus for guests based on their preferences, bringing the idea of omakase (which translates literally as, “I leave it to you”) typically associated with high cuisine into a casual setting. First-time visitors will almost surely be served the potato salad, spiked with pickled ginger and topped with a slice of smoked mackerel, or the terrine of horse mackerel wrapped in a shiso leaf with cucumber. All of the seasonal dishes are meant to pair with Shoto Lamp’s selection of natural wine and sake from small-batch producers that Kakinoki chooses himself.

The chilled-out space, tucked into the back streets of Tokyo’s highly trafficked Shibuya ward, is a warmly lit hideaway outfitted with a small open kitchen and counter seating that invites conversation. An enthusiastic advocate of premium sake served warm, Kakinoki gently heats the brews in a wooden hot-water bath that sits atop the bar. As with the food, there’s no menu — just leave yourself in Kakinoki’s capable hands.

Check here for opening hours. For reservations, call +81-(0)3-5738-7019.

Yusuke Takada gained prominence for the highly technical, obsessively detailed French-inspired cuisine he serves at his flagship restaurant, La Cime, in Osaka. But he’s always had a fondness for the hearty fare and boisterous bistro vibes he experienced during his early days in Paris as a young chef. When he launched The Upper, in the heart of Tokyo’s Marunouchi business district, he wanted to create an atmosphere of buzzy energy that would match the bright, dynamic interior designed by Luchetti Krelle, marked by saturated colors and gleaming metal accents that combine Art-Deco glamour with mid-century Italian minimalism.

Billed as a modern brasserie, The Upper offers something for every time of day. The menu, overseen by executive chef Toru Tokushima, focuses on updated renditions of classics like garlicky escargots à la Bourguignonne, skate in brown butter with capers, and a salad of mixed greens fortified with shredded duck confit. If you’re in the mood for brunch, there’s eggs Benedict or a glorious platter of raw oysters and boiled shellfish that pairs perfectly with Champagne. Reasonable prix-fixe menus fit the bill for a quick lunch, but you’ll want to linger over a bottle of natural wine with the generous plates meant for sharing at dinnertime. In the warmer months, floor-to-ceiling windows open onto the outdoor rooftop terrace, where you can sit among the greenery and sip an espresso martini with tonka-infused Calvados and hazelnuts, or a daiquiri made with sweet-potato shochu and fresh ginger.

Book online here, or call +81-(0)3-5962-9909.

As the name suggests, this low-key spot in the formerly grungy Kabukicho district is a celebration of all things porcine. Obsessed with Japan’s premium pork, chef Chunshin Ko traversed the country to test more than 100 varieties before opening the restaurant in 2021. The menu features up to 15 kinds at any given time, the flavor and texture characteristics of each charted on a graph for your reference. Shabu-shabu – thinly sliced pork simmered for seconds in hot broth and served with dipping sauce – is the main event here, and sets come with a spread of different varieties and cuts. The restaurant also specializes in a Japanese take on samgyupsal (grilled pork belly), spiced up with wasabi instead of kimchi in order to highlight the natural flavor of the pork. Everything is cooked at your seat, on an IC burner set into the table at each booth.

Three times a week (Tuesday to Friday), the restaurant offers tonkatsu, pork cutlets coated in panko breadcrumbs and fried to a golden crisp, which can only be requested in advance by phone. On some days, the boss himself comes in to prepare the cutlets, so check the Katsu Pretty Pork Facebook page for updates.

Book online here, or call +81-(0)3-3209-2929. For Katsu Pretty Pork, call +81-(0)3-3209-2930.

Restaurants and specialty bars are pushing sake, Japan’s national drink, in daring new directions. Case in point: Eureka, the sake-centric dining bar run by sake consultant Marie Chiba, the force behind the success of now-defunct sake bar Gem by Moto. Last October, Chiba moved into a space on the second floor of a quirky building in the Nishiazabu area. A curved wooden counter dominates the narrow space, surrounded by exposed concrete walls, with Chiba’s inventory of premium brews on display in two glass-door refrigerators at one end of the room. A colorful neon installation glows in the far corner, bathing the room in a purple-pink glow.

Known for her ingenious and unconventional pairings, Chiba works with the kitchen to craft a menu of small plates designed to complement the bar’s selection of sake from small-batch producers. Signatures such as the jet-black oeuf mayo, a soft-boiled egg enveloped in squid-ink mayonnaise, are listed along with seasonal bites on the chalk board opposite the bar. In late spring, a dish of strawberries and spinach tossed in white-miso-spiked tofu dressing pairs with a lively custom-made brew from Tochigi Prefecture that bears Chiba’s name, while shio-koji-marinated karaage fried chicken is a match for thick and yogurt-like doboroku (a rustic style of homebrew) from Iwate Prefecture. The bar’s 12 seats are frequently booked from the time the doors open, but there’s a standing-only space in front of the refrigerators.

More info here. For reservations, call +81-(0)3-6805-0760.

A veteran of the pioneering pizzeria Savoy, Yuki Motokura blends Japanese and Italian elements at recently opened Marumo. Beyond the white noren curtain at the entrance, the light-filled interior is anchored by a marble counter encircling the wood-fired pizza oven, adorned with a motif of overlapping circles. A stack of cut firewood climbs the wall beside the counter, while a glass case set into another wall displays a growing pile of wine corks – a testament to the short but considered list of affordable, mostly Italian, wines.

Motokura started out working at a kaiseki restaurant when he was still in high school before discovering the rustic charms of Neapolitan pizza while dining at Savoy (legend has it that he applied for a job there the following day). His training in Japanese cuisine comes through in the range of “Tokyo-style” pies made with local products. The highly Instagrammable Japanese Umami pizza is a cross-cultural mash-up of shiitake mushroom puree, pecorino and parmesan cheese, and bonito flakes, topped with emerald-green shavings of konbu kelp; the tomato-based Red Hot Chili pizza comes with mozzarella, nduja from Japan and a chiffonade of shiso. Classics like the Margherita and Marinara proudly stand their ground, as do satisfying side dishes such as focaccia with hummus and wood-fired cauliflower with anchovy sauce. Marumo is great for a solo lunch and even better for dinner with friends, where you can sample more of Motokura’s cooking.

Book online here, or call +81-(0)50-5462-2221.

Located off the beaten track on a quiet street in a residential area in Minato ward, Ippei Hanten is at the forefront of the new wave of Chinese cuisine. A discreetly illuminated sign marks the entrance; beyond the heavy wooden door, the simple but elegant main dining area resembles a modern kaiseki restaurant, with six seats at a long, narrow counter of auburn-tinted wood.

Chef Ippei Adachi fell in love with Chinese cookery when he was in culinary student, honing his skills in Hong Kong before returning to Japan to open Ippei Hanten in 2021. The meticulous dishes on his 15-course omakase menu incorporate seasonal Japanese ingredients into complex and refined creations like the rice crepe wrapped around crispy, fried prawn; thin noodles tossed with firefly squid and dusted with dried prawn roe; or flash-seared blowfish milt afloat in a luxurious Shantan soup. The extensive dinks list showcases prestige bottles like ultra-premium Iwa sake, Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru, and old-vintage Echezaux, along with less pricey options like Yebisu beer. After 9 p.m., the restaurant transforms into Ye Hong Kong, a raucous affair where the food – pork steamed with Cantonese salty fish, drunken prawns cooked in the shell, the juiciest roast duck – is served family style, along with a stack of napkins.

Make reservations here, or call +81-(0)50-3033-3946.

Cool, sweet, and refreshing, kakigori is Japan’s answer to the sweltering summer heat. At Azuki to Kouri, a shaved ice specialist in the Yoyogi neighborhood, pâtissier Miho Horio takes the beloved dessert to new heights of sophistication. The former pastry chef at two-starred Florilege, Horio spends a lot of time traveling the country to source the juiciest citrus, most aromatic strawberries, and sweetest vegetables for her creations.

The café’s slate-grey interior sets the stage for Horio’s colorful and artfully crafted treats. Behind the counter, she carefully shaves blocks of ice into fluffy, feathery flakes that she shapes into delicate mounds. The icy confections are stuffed and studded with fresh fruits, drizzled with homemade syrups and topped with foam. The house signature is a parfait featuring the classic kakigori topping of sweet azuki red beans, paired with cream and flecks of meringue. You’ll want to return again and again to sample the seasonal delicacies: sweet corn cream sprinkled with crunchy fried kernels in summer, magenta-hued shaved ice flavored with red shiso in autumn, the wintertime kakigori with pear compote and grated Amazonian cacao that pairs with the selection of teas from Tea Farm Inokura in Nara Prefecture. With only seven seats, reservations are essential.

There’s no phone, but you can reserve online here.