Gusto e Vino

On saturday night, Neil took me out for a lovely birthday meal. We went to a restaurant in Akasaka that had been recommended by a friend and was called Gusto e Vino. Little did we know, we'd be the only ones there that night. Normally, this would feel a bit strange, but it was a wonderful experience.

The restaurant is run by Naofumi Ito, a Japanese chef who has trained in Florence, Siena and Sicily, as well as New Zealand. He's a very outgoing man and eager to tell stories of his travels as well as share tidbits about his cooking. The restaurant consists of one small bar and can only sit about 8 people at the most. The diners sit along the bar and watch Naofumi as he creates these wonderful dishes. Being the only ones there, meant that we got to talk to him about how he makes each dish as well as share in his delights in other world cuisine such as Indian (where he brought out a scrumptious-smelling Indian relish for us to smell). It was a truly unique evening and something I will remember for a long time....or until we go back there again!

This is the restaurant - just one bar.

Naofumi is the chef and has worked extensively in Italy.

Naofumi took this photo of us and emailed it to us yesterday. I'm looking a bit dodgy, but put it down to extreme jetlag.....