2013 Flavor Trip Tokyo & Beijing!

Could Tokyo be the food capital of the world?  Based on the amount of Michelin stars in the city that statement could be true.  Tokyo has roughly 200 stars in a single city thats more than twice the amount of Paris or any other country on earth.  It could simply be supply and demand,  like Japanese Golf Clubs quality & design play a significant factor in the way Tokyoites and it’s visitors dine.   In our recent trip to Japan we ate and well ate more and took tons of high res photos

You can find a lot of things in the TSG forums,  one thing that I found recently was a recommendation & VIP reservations to a restaurant called ARONIA DE TAKAZAWA in Akasaka and this spot was off the hook.  They only serve 3 tables a night because there are only 3 tables in the restaurant.  Chef Takazawa and his wife Akiko felt that with any more tables the could not give the guest the experience they deserve.  It’s not only delicious but all of the ingredients are produced of seasonal and rare ingredients not to mention it looks like art on a plate.  While it isn’t easy to get a reservation  TSG member Supo67 hooked it up and we appreciate that so much,  Thank You Stew!  while it isn’t cheap its an experience you must have while in Tokyo.  Here are just a few of the pics from the meal:

Above is a dish they call Ratatouille deconstructed.  It’s obvious TAKAZAWA-san is obseesed with perfection  with flawlessly executed dishes.  This course may look small as it is one bite but considering its one of about 13 you get your fill.  With each course Akiko shares the story and ingredients or the story of the ingredients as well.  It was more than just dining it was entertainment as well.

Vegetables Parfait with caviar

The chocolate spoon,  not desert its actually filled with foie gras.

We ordered the Japanese wine pairings,  Tried about 6 different JDM wines and 1 really smooth sake.  Learned something new,  Japanese wines are often of really high quality so every vineyard sells their entire stock each year and has no back stock to store.  That means it’s very hard to find previous years wines unless you go to a collector.  Much more different than how things work in Napa or Sonoma where the winery stores back stock of years allowing it to age. So these are just a few pics.  If you want to see tons of pics of not only the food from TAKAZAWA but also other highly rated Tokyo restaurants & restaurants from our trip to Beijing ” Click Here ”  to visit our forum for the full posting!