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Showing posts with the label Tokyo

Off the Brochure Kyoto, Japan

Japan's imperial capital for over a thousand years, Kyoto is home to antique temples, historic public buildings and meticulously landscaped gardens and parks. Our traveling foodie, David Latt, takes us along with him as he explores Kyoto, starting with the tuna auction at 5:30 in the morning. No matter how early it starts, I have to see the tuna auction at the  Kyoto Central Wholesale Market . With my guide, Toshiro (“Toby”)  Sugihara , we walk through the cold concrete and steel building to find groups of men in heavy coats watching auctioneers flailing their arms around as they shout out prices. The buyers don't respond to the auctioneer until the price is right. Then a barely perceptible nod gives the auctioneer the sale he wants and he's on to the next fish. The most exclusive, expensive restaurants and sushi bars buy up the highest quality tuna. Before he became a tour guide, Toby was a sushi chef so he knows his tuna. He bends over a beautiful fish and points

Lost and Found in Tokyo

I am staying at the  Lost in Translation  Park Hyatt Tokyo, a beautifully sleek and elegant hotel. The trip is crazy-short. Only one day in Tokyo, then a bullet train trip to Kyoto. Three days there, then back to Tokyo to return to LA. Nutty and such great fun. After the flight from Los Angeles, I had dinner at  Kozue , the hotel's formal Japanese restaurant with floor to ceiling windows with a view the Tokyo skyline. The tasting menu had 28 "things" to taste that covered raw, grilled and simmered. Here are some photographs from the dinner. The beef was amazingly delicate and melt-in-the-mouth tender.  The soups had clear broths, refreshing to the palate and rejuvenating for a tired traveler.  Salt pickled vegetables were simple and clean tasting. Soba with duck broth and leeks, delicious. The portions start small to accompany cocktails and a small tasting of sake. Then the dishes build in comple