Dining Diaries XIX

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

While Sicily today belongs 100% to Italy, its history gave the island a unique culture and cuisine. Young chef Takahiro Higuchi spent 3½ years in Sicily to explore its culinary diversity. Now he’s back in Tokyo, and has recently opened Ristorante Siciliano Masshu in Ginza. Phoning ahead with the reservation and explaining our likes and dislikes was definitely a good idea; when we arrived at the restaurant, Higuchi-san waited for us with a feast! With our glass of Prosecco we were served house-marinated olives and a slice of fig wrapped in rosemary-flavored lard, together with some sticks of house-baked grissini. The Sicilian salad with fennel and honey dressing that followed made a big impression, but some of us opted for a dish of beef carpaccio and seasoned sea urchin. The next surprise was marinated fish carpaccio with orange filet slices and fruit tomatoes – a perfect dish! A few deep-fried slices of ray fin led the way to the “primi piatti”: soup-style gnocchi with smoked swordfish and cabbage, then a dark brown shrimp and rosemary risotto – both unimaginable tastes! A black rockfish with seasoned couscous, served like every dish on traditional Japanese tableware, made the main course another highlight. But Higuchi wouldn’t let us finish our meal without some noodles at the end: just a forkful of pomodoro-mousse spaghetti in a large earthen bowl. It was very unfortunate that at this stage we had to decline every offer of cheese or dessert – this will have to wait for our next visit, when we hope to convince the chef to moderate the amounts of his almost keiseki-style meals. The daily handwritten menu is in Japanese, but manager/waiter Kazuomi Fujimaki speaks some English, and the chef can always help with Italian. Wines from ¥3,500; credit cards not yet accepted, as the restaurant is so new.

Ginza Stella Bldg. 2F

6-2-12 Ginza, Chuo-ku

Tel/Fax 03-3572-8623

This has quickly become our number one favorite restaurant! The young chef - nicknamed Pino - is an absolute genius, and the way he prepares his dishes is quite unique. For example the salad mentioned above: each vegetable is prepared (and cooked if necessary) separately in its own best way. Only before serving all are combined and dressed. Same for his famous fish soup: each fish, vegetable, and couscous are prepared separately, the placed in the broth just before serving. This way, each spoonful gives you a different flavor. Our next visit is reserved for August 25; I will give a new report then.

[djohn]

Sounds very nice Pat and makes my mouth water even at this time of morning. :)

[andsome]

Sounds interesting. :D

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

We went there on Saturday, and it was incredible, as expected. The maître'd especially wrote the menu in English for us.

• Fresh marinaded snapper, with various marinaded vegetables and peach, with a lentils salad
  
• Chilled broad beans soup
  
• Spaghetti with tomato mousse
  
• The fish soup with couscous; this time the couscous was stuffed in a thin fish filet, making a perfect round ball
  
• Mousse of ricotta cheese with a bitter chestnut honey
  

The sad news was that they will close their restaurant by the end of the month, then reopen one month later at a yet secret location. However we were secretly told the secret - it will be in Yokohama. That's only 30 minutes by trains, but still...