denbushi | blog

Stumbled across this great article on pairing vegetables and wine on the NPR website today. It also includes some tasty-looking recipes that I’ll be preparing sometime soon.

I picked up this exceptional Pinot for around 50% off the list price at Enoteca’s online store. (They have a clearance page which changes often and offers some great deals on good wines.)

Many medium- to high-end New Zealand Pinots offer an astonishing balance of acid, fruit and alcohol, and this one is no exception. Light purple-ruby in color with notes of strawberry and plum in the nose, the Koru Pinot is silky smooth on the palate with a level of finesse hard to find in similar offerings from warmer Oregon and on par with a good Cote de Nuits. The length was quite long, and this wine will probably hit its peak in another 1-2 years.

Pinot Noir is the red grape variety best suited to New Zealand’s cool, wet climate, and along with Sauvignon Blanc helped finally put them on the map wine-wise. Drink a wine like this Koru to make you understand why.

Conclusion: Not one to miss, especially if you like the Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir.
DWR: 93 Points

We took a trip to the beach yesterday, joined by a couple that lives in our building and their 2 year-old daughter. Our destination this time was a new beach we’d never visited, down past Zushi and Hayama near the bottom of the Miura Peninsula. We tried a different day trip format this time around, mostly owing to the plan proposed by our companions. Instead of heading out “whenever we’re packed and ready” (noonish, typically) we instead had a firm 8:30 AM meeting time in the parking lot to keep. That found us up at 6:30 Saturday morning (ouch) and on the road by 08:45. 私たちにとってはけっこう珍しいことだけど… Pretty rare for us.

Nonetheless, we’re sold on the format and might even put it to use going forward. The roads were wide-open, and it took maybe an hour to get from our place to the beach, making the ocean seeming for perhaps the first time truly accessible. Better yet, the place we went to is off the beaten path, and offered FREE (!!!) beachside parking. Incredible! Our favorite beach in Zushi (一色海岸, isshiki kaigan) has 3500 yen parking 300 yards from the beach, creating are a far less attractive Pay and Schlep situation.

Waves were perhaps the only thing missing, but the calm waters meant the girls could get in there and play with no threat of being kocked over by the surf. We all had a great time and are looking forward to going back. We stuck around till around 12:30 then went to a local restaurant for lunch that specialized in local ocean fare. Should have taken pictures, and not sure why I didn’t, but it was all exceptional. Boiled crab, thickly-sliced sashimi, steamed fish in a light ginger sauce and all the Japanese trimmings you would expect: miso soup, hijiki and tea. Vry fresh, very tasty.

We were amazed to find ourselves back home at around 16:00, with the whole late afternoon and evening still in front of us. When the last time that happened? Normally we’d just be packing up now, looking forward to a long and crowded road home. Add another adherent to the Starting Early school of thought…

From Blog Photos

I’ve been making paella now for a few years, trying different varieties and generally trying to perfect my technique. Had another go this weekend and came away with a few general pointers.

• Stock is everything. The finest ingredients and perfect cooking are not going to produce a good paella if your stock is bland or mediocre. Take the time to prepare a flavorful fish stock (for seafood paella) using a combination of fish bones (or a fish head, such as the amberjack (kanpachi) I used this time around), fresh herbs, onions and garlic.
• Mussels go in right at the end. They only need a few minutes in the pan to heat up. Too much heat and they’ll shrivel up to nothing and you’ll be left wanting. Also be sure to properly remove the beard so as not to kill the mussel before cooking.
• Coat your rice. Be sure to stir fry the rice for 1-2 minutes along with the onions and tomatoes already in the pan before adding the hot stock. This will coat the grains well in oil and give you fuller, more flavorful rice.

Got any tips of your own? Leave a comment and let me know!

From Blog Photos

The daycare that Mia and Shione attend had their annual natsu matsuri (Summer Festival) last weekend, which was a good chance for the girls to dress up in Summer yukata and for us parents to get our first glimpse of just how hot this Summer is going to be this year. The girls probably enjoyed their bit more than we did ours…

The event kicked off briskly at nine AM, and there were lots of games and events, followed by a sort-od lunch in the kids cafeteria that found we adults–even the extra laarge ones like yours truly–squatting down on kids chairs eating matsuri-type food (meat on sticks, yakisoba, etc.) with throwaway chopsticks while watching our young ones.

There was only one other foreigner there that I could see, a large Moroccan fellow who clearly spends a lot of time in the gym. We chatted briefly after the obligatory “gaijin, meet fellow gaijin” introduction arranged by our wives. Seemed like a nice guy, and their 6 year-old daughter was dressed in traditional Moroccan gard for the event rather than traditional Japanese, which I tought was pretty cool.

Anyway, Summer fun was had by all, even with all of the sweating. Here are some shots of the girls.

It’s been more months in the works than I want to think about, but we’ve finally launched our online wine shop. We partnered with local wine importer and restaurant operator Le Petit Tonneau (”the little barrel”) to launch this new web shop for their range of French wines hailing mostly from the South of France, particularly the Languedoc-Roussillon region.

Southern France offers incredible diversity in terroir and wine styles, and in my opinion wines from that region are as good or better than any of the low- to mid-priced wines coming out of Bordeaux, Burgundy or the Rhone Valley. If you’re a fan of Spanish wine then you’ll love the offerings from Northern Catalan near the Franco-Spanish border, which have the same rustic, spicy character.

For red grapes think Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre, and Carignan in addition to more familiar varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The majot white grape is Chardonnay, with Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Viognier figuring prominently as well.

The site is fully bi-lingual, of course, and we offer free shipping anywhere in Japan for orders over 15,000 yen. If you want to jump right in and see what’s happening wine-wise down South I recommend the Summer Tasting Set, six carefully selected wines that I’m sure you’ll love, including two of my absolute favorites, this Vacqueyras from the Rhone Valley and the always lovely Fitou Cuvee Privilege. Order yours now!

You’ll probably notice some of the English on the site is a bit dodgy. We’re still refining it, and much of what you see there comes straight from the translator with little or no polishing. One step at a time…

Anyway, have a look. We hope you like it! If you do, help us spread the word…

Stumbled across this while scrolling through my local Picasa library of photos and remembered by how much I like it. While it looks like the bridge of some massive vessel, this shot was actually taken from the observation deck of the 海ほたる (umi hotaru), the artificial island built atop one end of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line. It’s the longest underwater tunnel for cars in the world at just under 10 kilometers and quite a bit of fun to drive, unless the idea of all those millions of tons of water overhead makes you feel uneasy.

The Umi Hotaru is a great place to stop and take a break, offering great views to Tokyo Bay on all sides and a variety of restaurants and shops. We had kaiten sushi there while watching the sun set and thought it just great.

From Blog Photos

This Shibuya noodle shop is a favorite of locals and cross-town lunch commuters alike. You show up any time between 11:30 and 13:30 and you’d better be ready to wait in line, and today was no different for us. However, these つけ麺 (tsukemen, a type of ramen) noodles are worth the wait. Hand-pounded right on site and served with a deliciously tasty dipping sauce, they’re as good as anything you can find in Shibuya.

On this day I ordered medium-thick noodles and 角煮 (kakuni) marinated pork. The noodles were just the right firmness and the pork melt-in-your-mouth tender. Probably a bit on the high end calorie-wise but, hey, it ain’t every day, right? Co-worker J, a fan of massive portions and anything noodly, had chashuu instead and gave it a big thumbs up. I’m sure we’ll be headed back sometime soon…

大きな地図で見る

I uploaded the pix from our 2006 trip to Myanmar. R and I went for a week (thanks to the in-laws for looking after Mia!), exploring mostly Yangon and Bagan. It was a wonderful trip and the people there were friendly, inquisitive and very hospitable. See the photos in the Picasa Gallery here.

Uoki sushi in Ark Hills (Akasaka) has long been one of my favorite kaiten sushi restaurants. Consistantly fresh, the portions are large and the quality exceptional. Not too expensive, either, when you consider the building it’s in. (You can’t swing a stick in the place without hitting a French investment banker…) I have a client nearby, and whenever I visit them I make it a point to stop by Uoki for lunch or an afternoon snack.

I noticed on a recent visit that they redid their counter-top menu, apparently going to great pains to make it accessible to the local foreign population as well. Too bad they did so without the involvement of a native English speaker. So, who’s hungry?

I’ve become a bit of a ramen maniac since coming to Japan and now always look forward to finding a new good place for steaming noodles. Recent trips to the Shinagawa/Takanawa area (trying to get some bussiness) introduced me to an interesting walk-o-ramen called 品達 (shintatsu) under the Yamanote Line tracks close to Shinagawa station. This place offers eight–count ‘em, eight–different ramen shops under one “roof”. Only the Ramen Museum has more, as far as I know. Anyway, I went the first time and had some weird “black miso” ramen that was average, and then went back with co-worker J for another shot.

This time we tried Higomonz, a place that specializes in Kumamoto-style ramen (my favorite, natch) and walked away very full and very impressed. The excellent soup was tonkotsu style–a typical ramen broth made with pork bones and other odds-and-ends, most popular down South–and the noodles just the right firmness and weight. As an added bonus there were three morsels of kakuni (thick chunks of fat-lined pork) thrown in as well to give the thing a succulent, 贅沢な richness.

Don’t even want to think of the calories in that bowl, but we sure left feeling satisifed. Lunchtime brings big crowds and long lines, so be ready to wait unless you can skirt the busy times…

We spent Golden Week this year in Kumamoto (where R is from.) and  had a swinging time. I was informed that this–unlike some of our other vacations–would NOT include me hovering over my ThinkPad tappity-tapping away in the name of work. No sir, this was going to be a PROPER vacation complete with lots and lots of Fambly Fun and entertainment for the girls. I followed the rules and we had a great  week-long break in Kyushu.  Visiting Kumamoto always means lots of good stuff like daily trips to the onsen and dining on tasty fare, but this time we also make it a point to get out and take the girls around to different places like the zoo and the mountains, which they enjoyed immensely. We also made an overnight trip to Kagoshima (my first) for a bit of outdoor fun and domestic tourism (= visiting temples and steeping in hot springs). I shot scads of photos and have put them online, have a look if you’re interested in seeing a visual summary of the trip.

Located maybe a minute from our office is Concombre, an exceptional little French bistro that serves a wickedly good lunch for around 1500 yen. The room is small and the tables packed closely enough together that you can sometimes here your neighbor chew, but what Concombre lacks in elbow room it makes up for with great dishes and artful presentation. Even the 1000 yen set lunches come on a heavy silver tray, with the main course tucked inside a covered silver dish. All of the lunches are served with soup, salad, bread, dessert and coffee, all skillfully prepared in generous portions that make you forget your dining in Tokyo. (Anyone whose enjoyed one of those 3 leaf “salads” you find in some lesser restaurants knows what I mean.) Free refills on coffee and a friendly staff make Concombre a place not to miss! Almost as good as Beacon, but without all the suits and styling gel.

Rowan Muir Duff-Rollins was born yesterday, at 6:30 PM Portland time. Weighing in at a hefty 9.5 pounds, I’m sure he was ready to move on to more spacious accommodations. We’re all very excited about welcoming him to the world, and will look forward to meeting in person for the first time later this year. Congratulations to my brother and his wife. We’re so happy for you!!!

I’ve moved off the servers at the incredibly lame Intermedia.Net and over to a different provider. Among the many sucky things about Intermedia is that they don’t make an Export function available for their WordPress installations. All I have is an SQL backup of the data, which seems not to work at all when moving from 2.0.x to 2.5.x. Please tell me I’m not going to have to re-enter all my posts manually…

Friend Rick and his new girlfriend joined us for dinner Sunday night, a four-person collaborative affair that produced an exceptional four course dinner and a good evening for all of us, kids included. The food was great, of course, but the real star of the evening was the Freeman Pinot Noir from Californian that Rick brought along. The 2004 vintage we enjoyed has ruby-brick hues and an earthy nose with notes of cherry and raspberry, followed by a hint of peppery spice. Fruity on the palate, the wine is light- to medium-bodied with a silky, balanced flavor. The finish is long and exquisite, and makes you want to go right back for more. This is a wine to pair with duck and a fruit chutney or grilled salmon with dill sauce, served perhaps with a rucola, walnut and apple salad on the side. An exceptional wine, though not cheap at 6,500 yen.

I signed up for a six-month wine course offered by the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a UK-based educational body that provides education and training in wine and spirits. The course I joined is the Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Wines and Spirits. While most of the WSET courses here are taught in Japanese, the thought of learning the names of French chateaus and German grapes in katakana seemed a bit counter-productive, so I was glad to see that this course has a single slot taught in English. Better still, the instructor is none other than my friend and client James D., a fellow eminently suited to the job as he brings to it both an encyclopedic knowledge of wine and a wonderfully charming English accent.

We meet once a week on Mondays in Ginza for two hours. The first hour or so we cover the topics for that week (the history of wine, viticulture and vinification, etc.) and then in the second hour we taste 5-6 wines. (The second half is really the better of the two.) Much of this course involves learning how to properly taste wine using a systematic method, and later we will be required to identify wines based on our tasting experience and a basic knowledge of the wines of the world.

The course goes through to October of this year. I’m really looking forward to learning a lot more about wine and the opportunity to learn from someone as knowledgeable (and pleasant to listen to) as James. As we’ll be launching our own wine site sometime in May the timing really couldn’t be better. More details on that later…

Located next door to my alma mater Aoyama Gakuin Daigaku in Aoyama, Amour Superieur is a tiny restaurant with seating for 20 which specializes in “LOHAS French” cuisine. When we visited for the first time for lunch Chef Kumatani was the only person minding the store, and he deftly handled everything–seating, serving and preparation. We opted for simple course lunches, with me ordering the 糸より鯛 (golden threadfin bream, 1600 yen) and my companion having a shrimp and scallop salad (1200 yen).

The dishes were both exquisitely prepared to perfection. The shrimp and scallops were tender, flavorful and with just the right firmness on the outside. The bream was similarly well done, with crispy, lightly-battered skin and wonderfully succulent flesh. The portion was quite small, sadly, but the sauce and grilled vegetables somehow made up for it. Pricey, yes, but the quality and presentation is exceptional. My only regret is that we didn’t order wine. Well, there’s always next time…

I’ve decided to start writing simple reviews of the restaurants in the area here (Shibuya and Aoyama, mostly) that I frequent for lunch. Always on the lookup for simple fodder that let me take photos with the new camera (details forthcoming) and add content to my long-abandoned blog. With that…

Beacon bills itself as an “urban chop house” and is the latest venture by well-known local chef David Chiddo. He and his partner also run T.Y. Harbor Brewery and Cicada in Hiroo. I haven’t been for dinner yet but I’m told the food is excellent and very expensive.

I do go for lunch once every two or three weeks, though, because the food is fantastic and the “power dining” experience is a refreshing change from the standard 1000 yen 和食 set lunch I typically endure come lunchtime. Also, the price is right at between 1200 and 1600 yen.

Yesterday I met with some old friends who run a company here called BlueShift. On arrival I was happy to see that we managed to get one of the swanky booths that line one side of the room. However, I got stuck facing the wall instead of the room and so ended up missing out on the people watching that makes a Beacon lunch good fun.

I ordered the Grilled half chicken “frango style” with veggies (ポルトガル風ハーフグリルチキンと温野菜). At 1600 yen this was the most expensive item on the menu but every bit worth the price. The chicken was grilled to perfection, with crispy, oil-free skin and tender juicy meat. The vegetables that accompanied it were also perfectly done, and the whole thing lay in a shallow, thin sauce with just the right level of spicy zest. Add to that complimentary bread and herb tea and you’ve got yourself a fantastic lunch experience. For power lunches and entertaining clients in Shibuya it can’t be beat.

Met up with old friends Donald and Jason and a couple of other folks last night at Andy’s fantastic izakaya under the Yamanote Line tracks in Yuraku-cho (有楽町). British ex-footballer Andy has run Shin Hinomoto (新日の基) for as long as I’ve lived here in Tokyo (much longer, actually) and serves up some of the best home style izakaya fare around. The portions are massive and the prices cheap. What could be finer? I hadn’t been in maybe a year or more this time, and it was great to see that the food and raucous atmosphere are still as enjoyable as I remember. We samples some of out standard dishes–sauteed enringi mushrooms, grilled asparagus spears, sashimi moriawase–and also ventured into new ground, enjoying lightly-battered John Dory (マトウダイ) and steamed black cod (ギンダラ). Everything was great, and we washed it all down with chilled mugs of beer and imojochu (芋焼酎). Gotta remember to get over there more often!