Any fashion boutique worth its salt has a cafe attached these days. Offering cappuccinos and cheesecake is, after all, a good way to draw reluctant window-shoppers through the doors. Too often, though, style wins out over substance. The requisite ambience is installed along with the espresso machine, but it's all froth and no flavor. Here are two new places, however, that are definitely worth knowing about.
We had always been surprised by the lack of an adjoining eatery at The Conran Shop in Nishi-Shinjuku -- especially given the growing international stable of restaurants owned by London-based founder/design guru Terence Conran. Perhaps they were just taking their time to make sure they did it right. Now Tokyo's mecca for design devotees has an eatery that lives up to the company lineage and its upmarket address in the Shinjuku Park Tower.