At long last it's safe to come out from under the air conditioning. The heat has finally broken, our appetites have perked up, and there are some long, balmy evenings ahead — perfect for some leisurely outdoor dining.
Tokyo has never been a great city for open-air restaurants. Hardly surprising, given the unforgiving midsummer climate and the vagaries of the typhoon season. For that reason, we've never built up a long list of good alfresco tables. But at least there is Maison de la Bourgogne.
Open some four and a half years now, this friendly, lively bistro was initially set up as the shop front for a wine-importing business specializing, as the name suggests, in the fruit of the vine of the Burgundy region. Since then it has expanded from a simple wine bar with a couple of tables to a full-fledged restaurant. And thanks to its generous patio with a dozen tables, it has become one of the focal points of the French community who make the Iidabashi/ Kagurazaka/Ushigome quadrant their home away from home.