One usually doesn't go to Tsukiji to get a fine cappuccino or a poppy-seed sponge cake soaked in liqueur. Yet just a few minutes away from "Tokyo's Kitchen," where pricy cuts of maguro are noisily auctioned off to the highest bidder, Bellini's Italian Bar offers businesspeople and tourists alike a pleasant respite.
Though BIB is not exactly a kissaten, with perfectly prepared cappuccinos and unique desserts, it definitely qualifies as a comfort zone between appointments.
Making its splashy debut in 1997, it is the only "Italian bar" belonging to the Bellini family of trattorias, cafes and pizza/pasta shops scattered throughout the Tokyo metropolitan area. The choice of moniker, says Kuniaki Hashimoto, BIB's general manager, was inspired not by the genius of early Renaissance painting (Giovanni Bellini, 1426-1516), but by the peach schnapps and champagne cocktail dubbed a "Bellini," reportedly first served at a bar in Venice.