La Luna Rossa is one of those excellent little places that fly under the critical radar, avoiding the hyperventilation of the vernacular media but generating a deep, slow-sure buzz of appreciation among the culinary cognoscenti. In the parlance of the showbiz world, it's a sleeper.

It has been open some four years now and, although we had heard the word, we kept putting off our visit. The main problem was the location. Even for those happy souls who live in Naka-Meguro, the stretch of river to the east of Komazawa-dori is well off their regular beat. Indeed, until recently this was an uninviting wasteland, known only to joggers and dog-walkers.

So it was a particularly brave move for La Luna Rossa's young owner, Hitoshi Mizutani, to choose this obscure but now steadily gentrifying locale for such an ambitious operation -- especially as a first-time restaurateur. Modestly he calls it an osteria (inn), but in reality it's a bijou ristorante, simple but polished, small but perfectly formed, and with delectable modern Italian cucina to match.