When it comes to handing out this year's gongs and plaudits for the best setting and most notable architecture, there are going to be very few restaurants that will rival Spring Valley Brewery. That's because it occupies pride of place at Log Road Daikanyama.
Still only a month old, this buzzy new development is doubly noteworthy. First, its brilliant use of space: You'd never realize that the land it sits on used to be occupied by railway tracks, until the Toyoko Line was sunk underground barely a year ago. Second, Spring Valley Brewery and the other buildings here look fantastic, all clad in wood and linked by a timber walkway (hence the Log Road name).
Tokyo's latest and biggest brewpub is a substantial operation, just as you'd expect from the new craft-beer specialist subsidiary of brewing behemoth Kirin. The first Spring Valley Brewery opened inside Kirin's Yokohama complex earlier in the spring. But this new Daikanyama operation is even more impressive.