The good news: The rainy season is over. The bad news: The Great Heat is now upon us, blanketing the city. The only recourse: eat lightly, eat late and eat outside. Here are a few places where you are likely to find the Food File enjoying the night sky, cradling a glass in the cool of the evening with a breeze ruffling the pages of our menu.
In terms of buzz and wow factor, there is nowhere to beat the sleek new Two Rooms Grill/Bar, close by Omotesando. Occupying the entire fifth floor of the eye-arresting Ao Building — that angular glass facade is so prism-sharp it puts the "Ow!" in Aoyama — this was the major restaurant opening of the spring.
The main dining room is impressive, with its open kitchen, floor-to-ceiling windows and modernist decor. So too is the high-end menu offered by Chef Matthew Crabbe (formerly of the New York Grill), with its emphasis on prime seafood and steak. But for the duration of the summer at least, our focus will be neither there nor on the "other room," the smaller but equally striking lounge/bar. It will be on the outside terrace by the walkway separating the two.