Shabu-shabu in modernist mode
There's no finer way to eat on a chilly winter evening than sitting around a bubbling nabe hot pot. No matter what the ingredients — meat, fish, tofu or vegetables — just cooking and eating from the same communal casserole is nourishment for both body and soul.
Correction: It's even better if you're sharing that hot-pot with a select group of close friends, and especially so if the setting is more than a little bit special. That was certainly the case the other night when we dined at Kamikozawa-tei.
You don't have to be an architecture buff to appreciate that this low-slung freestanding single-story house in a residential area just down from Shirokanedai is a classic of its kind. With its clean, spare lines, monochrome facade of glass and unclad concrete and uncluttered compound, it is a modest masterpiece of Japanese modernist understatement.
Commissioned and built in the early 1960s by a university professor, a German specialist, it remained his private home for half a century. Recently, he became unable to maintain it, so his relatives decided the best way to preserve this architectural gem was to convert it into an exclusive boutique restaurant. Named simply after the family name, Kamikozawa, and managed by the owner's nephew, it opened discreetly late last year to minimal fanfare.
The menu is as simple and uncluttered as the building itself. The specialty of the house is shabu-shabu, prepared with beef from premium Omi wagyu cattle. This serves as the focal point of dinner at Kamikozawa-tei. As we soon found out, though, the same beef features prominently throughout the meal, no matter which of the set-course dinners (¥6,090, ¥8,000 or ¥10,000; by advance reservation only) you have.
In such a minimalist setting — walls of unclad concrete with little or no decoration (sadly the original period fixtures and fittings have been stored away) — we felt no need for an elaborate banquet. The simplest of the three menus, comprising five courses, proved to be more than adequate.
As appetizers, we were served steak tartare, smoothly ground and arranged on delicate slices of baguette. With these came a small bowl of sashimi-style liver, the cubes of raw meat lightly dressed with sesame, giving the dish a Korean accent.
The mixed salad that followed provided a welcome vegetable counterpoint. It didn't matter that the greens were too generously slathered with dressing: This merely reinforced the sense that we were more private guests in the Kamikozawa home than customers in a sleek, professional operation.
The third course was one of the highlights of our dinner: a platter oftataki-style beef slices. The meat, a choice cut of rump, was outstanding. Lightly seared on the outside, deep- red-rare in the center, it had a wonderful texture with such a deep, lingering flavor it barely needed the roasted sesame dip that accompanied it.
With a serving staff of just two, the pace of the meal was by necessity unhurried. The leisurely intervals between courses afforded us plenty of time for conversation over our wine (be warned, it's the briefest of wine lists: Champagne; a sparkling wine; two whites; and a single red, the more than adequate Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon) as our shabu-shabu nabe was readied.
Kamikozawa-teiwww.kamikozawatei.comLocation: 1-12-7 Kami-Osaki, Shinagawa-ku
(03) 3445-6700
Open: 5 p.m.-midnight (last order 10:30 p.m.) closed Mon.
Nearest station: Shirokanedai (Namboku Line)
How to get there: From Shirokanedai Station (Exit 1) turn left along Meguro-dori (toward Meguro). Just before the Tokyu Store, turn left down a small side street and follow it down the slope. At the first crossroads, turn left and continue downhill. Turn right at the second side street and you will see Kamikozawa-tei on your right after about 50 meters.
What works: The exquisitely simple yet exclusive setting
What doesn't: Service is well-intentioned but still not up to speed.
Number of seats: 26
BGM: Jazz vocal
Smoking: Permitted
Price per head: Courses at ¥6,090, ¥8,000 and ¥10,000 (special opening menu at ¥5,000 until Feb. 21).
Drinks: Beer from ¥700; cocktails ¥800; shochu from ¥600; umeshu ¥700; wine from ¥900/glass, ¥4,800/bottle
Credit cards: Major cards accepted
Language: Japanese menu; a little English spoken
Reservations: Essential
(03) 3445-6700
Open: 5 p.m.-midnight (last order 10:30 p.m.) closed Mon.
Nearest station: Shirokanedai (Namboku Line)
How to get there: From Shirokanedai Station (Exit 1) turn left along Meguro-dori (toward Meguro). Just before the Tokyu Store, turn left down a small side street and follow it down the slope. At the first crossroads, turn left and continue downhill. Turn right at the second side street and you will see Kamikozawa-tei on your right after about 50 meters.
What works: The exquisitely simple yet exclusive setting
What doesn't: Service is well-intentioned but still not up to speed.
Number of seats: 26
BGM: Jazz vocal
Smoking: Permitted
Price per head: Courses at ¥6,090, ¥8,000 and ¥10,000 (special opening menu at ¥5,000 until Feb. 21).
Drinks: Beer from ¥700; cocktails ¥800; shochu from ¥600; umeshu ¥700; wine from ¥900/glass, ¥4,800/bottle
Credit cards: Major cards accepted
Language: Japanese menu; a little English spoken
Reservations: Essential
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