Tokyo is a wonderful city where you can enjoy authentic international cuisines. Among them, Tokyo Italian and French are top notch. I was already missing Tokyo Italian so much, so we went to Elio Locanda Italiana in Kojimachi district of Tokyo for dinner. At Elio, they serve traditional Southern Italian cuisine mainly from Chef/Owner Elio's home, Calabria. The restaurant has the very lively and casual ambience.
I was so happy to see my girlfriends...we've been friends for 20 years! There were 5 of us tonight, and we had a great time together.
Antipasto misto was already quite unbelievable! Our server sliced the buffalo mozzarella roll in front of our table and it was served with the olive oil. I especially loved the regional eggplant ball, which is made from minced (sun-dried) eggplant and some other vegetables.
For the pasta course, we picked white asparagus risotto, lobster chitarra, and minced duck leg fusilli.
The secondi...Kinme-dai snapper grill, and charcoal grilled kurobuta pork.
Spumante and Calabria's local wine, 2007 Casa Vinicola Ribrandi, Ciro Rosso Classico. It's made from Gaglioppo grape, which is one of the oldest Italian variety, originally brought from Greece. The wine had the nice rustic character with the juicy palate.
There was no way to skip the dessert. Our waiter told us we can choose as many kinds as we want. So, I chose 4 kinds for myself! I had the fromaggio torta, fig torta, chocolate torta, and tiramisu (it's been a while since I had the really nice tiramisu). Fantastic.
I enjoyed every bite of the night. Bravo.
