Fantastic news: Restaurant J has returned. After a gap of over four years, one of our most talented chefs, Masahito Ueki, is back in action in Tokyo.
For longtime readers of this column, Ueki will need little introduction. Over the last 11 years, we have followed his progress from Tableaux to Stellato (from its very opening) and thence to the original Restaurant J, a superb little contemporary bistro that many (the Food File included) still rate among their all-time favorites.
Now, after an unforgivably long absence in self-imposed exile up in Nagano Prefecture, as executive chef of Masaa's in Karuizawa, here he is again. And he's raised the ante one more time. Those hoping for a reprise of the old J — chic but slightly scuffed around the edges; superb value for special occasions — will need to adjust their expectations several notches upmarket.