Readers of this column over the past seven years will be well aware of our abiding love of the food and wine of the western Mediterranean. Anyone who has eaten his or her way around Spain will understand. From the seafood of Galicia and the Basque coast to the sherry, tapas and superb hams of Andalucia, there is so much great eating and drinking to be done. And that's before you even get to Morocco.
Chef David Chiddo clearly shares the same enthusiasm. His menu at Cicada, halfway between Hiroo and Nishi-Azabu, is a loving homage to some of the best dishes from our favorite region, with creative additions from as far afield as Italy, Greece and Lebanon. Judging from the full tables and the contented hubbub that spreads through the restaurant every evening, there are plenty of other people in Tokyo who feel the same way.
New York born and trained, with stints in both Los Angeles and France under his belt, Chiddo came to Japan more than 13 years ago to launch Lunchan, before moving on to help put T.Y. Harbor Brewery on an even keel. But he always aspired to running a top-flight French restaurant -- until he too fell in love with those simple, beguiling Mediterranean flavors. That was well before the current boom in Spanish bars and restaurants. There was nowhere here doing that kind of food right, he says. "So I opened the kind of restaurant that I wanted in Tokyo but couldn't find."