"Eat Your Vegetables." This is not your mother speaking, admonishing you at age 5 to clear your plate. It is the cheerful philosophy -- think of it as an invitation, not a command -- that underpins Cafe Eight, perhaps our favorite vegetarian restaurant in all of eastern Japan.
The motto is emblazoned across the T-shirts of the young, friendly and predominantly female staff who work here, but this is more than just cute sloganeering. Cafe Eight embraces the vegan ethos, which means the kitchen prepares no meat, fish or chicken, no milk or other dairy products (with just one exception), and shuns even honey. Instead, the emphasis is on whole grains -- genmai (brown rice) and a wide range of wholesome breads. It sounds austere, ascetic even, but eating here is far from doing penance. It's a pleasure.
In large part, that is due to the setting, on the top floor of Time & Style, one of the more interesting purveyors of designer furnishings in the Aoyama area. The galleries on the lower floors adopt the requisite look of chilly minimalism, but once you reach Cafe Eight you find a warm, inviting room, filled with sunlight during the day, and mellow, low-key lighting by night.