One of our best — and best-looking — discoveries this summer has been Koz Cafe. Occupying a converted house on a narrow pedestrian street on the Tomigaya side of Yoyogi Park, it has a distinctive Scandinavian feel both inside and out (you can't miss its patterned slate-blue exterior) and on the menu too.

It was set up by an interior design company as a showroom for its online business. But it's also a showcase for the equally eye-catching cuisine of chef Thilak Basnayaka. For many years the head chef at the Danish Embassy in Tokyo (and also in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), he now runs a catering business, drawing together the very different traditions of northern Europe and his native Sri Lanka. The results are intriguing and flavorful — especially his signature range of exquisite open sandwiches.

They're complex, inventive constructions, built with a colorful array of ingredients on a wholesome base of dark rye bread. He has a wide repertoire, of which half a dozen are offered on any given day. Among our favorites are the classic dill gravlax, with the smoked salmon arranged with tomato slices on a bed of pumpkin puree; caramelized grilled scallops, using pureed green pea, pumpkin and tomato to add vivid hues to the seafood; and the signature Koz burger, a small patty of beef nestling on a bed of creamy potato salad.