Hidden away just up the side street from Incanto, the bijou wine bar formerly known (and extolled in this column) as Terauchi has gone through two name changes in the past couple of years. First it became Magazzino; now, since April of this year, it is simply known as Itabar.
The look is little different — a small inner sanctum lined to the ceiling with shelves of wine bottles and an outer area looking onto a matchbox-size garden. The menu is much the same as well. But the feel now is as sterile as the generic and unimaginative name — and the customers are staying away in droves. Unless it's given another makeover (and better name) fast, its future does not look bright.
Itabar, 4-12-6 Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku; (03) 5420-2525.