These are not the best of times for Tokyo's ryotei, those rarefied houses of inconspicuous consumption, whose prime purpose is as venues for wining and dining, mutual back-scratching and political intrigue. With captains of industry cutting back on expense accounts, and Nagata-cho's mandarins under increasing public scrutiny, patronage is on a downward slope.
So it is either an act of desperation or supreme bravado for Kanetanaka, one of the top ryotei in Shinbashi, to open not just one but two establishments inside the imposing portals of the Cerulean Tower, the massive skyscraper that now dominates the skyline above Shibuya. Down in the basement, they have replicated their ryotei experience, offering grand banquets accompanied by performances on an authentic Noh stage. For this, the cost runs to a mere 28,000 yen to 35,000 yen per head (extras not included).
Although this may not be of major interest to the general eating public, their new, second-floor restaurant certainly is. Rather than merely reproducing the tried-and-true (but oh-so-tired) kaiseki format, Kanetanaka-So opts instead for a more contemporary take on Japanese cuisine, in a setting so simple and spare it would inevitably be called "Zen" by most Western observers.