This might be the year of kappo dining for me. Recently, I have often found myself seated at sparse counters opposite small teams of industrious chefs, synchronized by their movements: cutting, peeling, grating, stirring, broiling, searing, tasting and fielding questions from patrons.
The more I dine in kappo (counter-style restaurants), the more I like it. There is, as I have written previously, the unspoiled view of the kitchen and the relaxing sight of chefs at work. And considering the proximity of Valentine's Day, there is one other advantage to kappo dining: I'd rather be seated alongside my date, with a team of chefs for distraction, than both of us anchored on either side of a table, which makes me think of playing footsie — so '80s.
Kappo Yamashita is housed in a machiya (Kyoto's traditional townhouses), north of Sanjo on a postcard-pretty section of historical Kiyamachi Street. In spring, it's awash in pink petals and tourists dressed as geikos (the Kyoto term for geishas).