Food is fashion in this city and, inevitably, food is also foreplay -- especially in the ritzier parts of town. More often than we care to recall we have found that swish furnishings and subdued lighting are danger signals, warning of meals that are self-conscious, mediocre and overpriced. How nice it is to be proved wrong once in a while.
At Kizakura, you'd be forgiven for having your doubts -- initially, at any rate. The Omotesando/Kotto-dori quadrant is, after all, fashion central. Kizuakura's basement location formerly housed a Francophone DJ dining-bar. Neither the Japanese-only menu at the top of the stairs or the Philippe Starck designer furniture visible at the bottom give any clue that fine dining is now a possibility. And when you see that darkened dining room, glittering with the dancing flames of 100 tiny oil-lamps, you are more likely to think flimflam Aladdin's cave than cellars stocked with Bourgogne and Bordeaux.
Do not be put off. Kizakura has an accomplished chef, Atsushi Yumoto, with plenty of hands-on experience, both here and in France. And owner/manager Shuntoku Katayama -- known to many from his five years at Cardenas in Hiroo -- has assembled a cadre of floor staff who are polished, friendly and relaxed.