Sheila's Stories and Stitches: Steve's Birthday

the birthday boy

Steve celebrates his birthday in Japan! We decide while living here our gifts will be the trips we take, so there's no presents for him to open...but there's lots of good food! He always prefers pecan pie to birthday cake, so I find a place that makes them, Bubby's, in nearby Ark Hills. They even provide me with a sparkler candle.

He chooses to eat dinner at Baird Taproom, a pizza/brewery restaurant in Nakameguro. They serve New Haven style pizza, something Steve grew up eating. It's has a thin crust and is similar to a Neapolitan and New York style.

Hard to fit both of us and the pizza!

While jogging with Tie-Dye, Steve often runs by the restaurant.

I'm able to get reservations for the following evening at a 2-star Michelin restaurant, L'Effervescence. It took a long time (a couple of months) before I could find availability on a Saturday, at least using their online reservation system. I think if I called directly or had the Tokyo American Club arrange it, I could have made it earlier. However, it worked out well to celebrate Steve's birthday. While eating there, we're given the manager's business card and told to email him directly if we want reservations in the future....so I think we won't have any problems if we return.

the spring version of the menu

We have our own private booth and a copy of the menu waiting for us. There's no a la carte here - you only have the chef's menu, which is what we would choose, anyway. The only thing I don't really like about the restaurant is the accompanying wine flight you can order. There is some confusion when we ask what it is (I heard the waiter say "tastes" and Steve heard we receive a total of three glasses - he speaks English, but with an accent). It turns out to literally be a taste of wine for five of the courses - maybe one glass total for the entire meal. They were good pairings (from the two sips of each wine I received) and they were from interesting little wineries, but they weren't incredibly expensive bottles (We asked about one, and it was $50). Unfortunatley, at $140 each for the wine flight, it was NOT worth it at all.

Everything else is wonderful! I enjoy seeing the presentation of the table and other elements, in case I can reproduce them at home.

the napkin looks like a bird of paradise

Good use of old champagne glasses - serve olives in them.

Our amuse bouche, not on the menu. I love the charger plates they use here.

I am getting a little tired of the "foam" trend...I think it's time for it to go!

You cannot order this at McDonald's, even in Japan!

Their specialty is the "Just Like Apple Pie," served in a container similar to McDonalds. It even smells the same, but it tastes nothing like apples! Our pastry is filled with firefly squid, fennel and Japanese knotweed. It's good...but a little strange because your brain is thinking fruit pie.

One nice aspect of the restaurant is the service. When each course is delivered, two other attendants also arrive so Steve and I receive our plates at the same time.

I wonder if they have to practice this before they can work on the floor.

Eenie, meenie, miney, mo

We're also given our choice of knives when we reach the pork course.

the pork course (Heritage)

I had informed the restaurant of Steve's birthday, so they bring out a special "candle" for him, made of spun sugar. I don't think I'll be able to do that at home!

Our final dessert plate...also not actually on the menu.

I love the different glass plates they use here!

We finish up with a little tea ceremony at our table. It's the first time we've seen it performed by a man, but otherwise it's all the same.

Can't talk - must count whisk turns.

Steve drinking his tea the right way!

The birthday celebrations continue with not one, but two wine dinners - both at the same restaurant, Two Rooms. We can't choose between a New Zealand winery and an Italian one, so we decide to go to both and say it's all part of Steve's festivities.

Kitchen selfie!

The first one is hosted by Pegasus Bay, one of the wineries we visited in New Zealand last year.

1st course

the duck

an interesting take on pavlova

Steve and the winery representative

Once again, Steve is seated by the winery representative (I think he's the president of marketing) and we have a wonderful time talking with him and showing him pictures of our visit to Pegasus Bay.

Several nights later we're back again for a wine dinner with Il Borro, owned by Salvatore Ferragamo's family. A grandson of the designer is here to present the wines, but unfortunately, he doesn't bring any shoes with him. The wines are pretty good, though!