Tokyo's Best Restaurants

Luxor
Barbizon25 2F
Shirokanedai 5-4-7
Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0071
Tel. (03) 3446-6900

From 13,000 yen per person for dinner, including taxes and drinks

Note: This review appeared in the December 2004 issue of the Tokyo Weekender. It was written by Christine Miki, author of Tokyo Stories, a humorous novel on expatriate life in Japan.

Dinner at Luxor is not your typical upscale Italian dining experience. Its sleek but cozy interiors, fashionable diners and overall frenetic high-energy atmosphere reminds one of a New York restaurant du jour, while its extensive menu -- strong on flavorful pastas and meat dishes, liberally peppered with delicacies like home-made sundried tomatoes and Oscietra caviar - practically shouts "excellent ristorante in Tuscany!"

Whether it is the food, the presentation or the atmosphere, everything is just a little bit more at Luxor -- which is probably how owner-chef Mario Frittoli wants it anyway. He described his cooking philosophy best when he said, "People come here for good food, of course. But they also come here to be entertained." So, expect dinner here to be more of a glamorous event rather than a meal -- particularly if you decide to close your menus and leave yourselves in Mario's adventurous hands. On the spur of the moment, he will whip up delightful dishes based on your requests and on the special ingredients that have landed on his kitchen table from somewhere in the world. One evening, for example, he prepared four different kinds of Tuscan appetizers laced with white truffles and then grilled juicy Fiorentina steaks for our party of four. On this most recent visit, on the other hand, Mario combined smoked foie gras with beef carpaccio as an appetizer and then afterwards served a heavy and almost pungent crab sauce with home-made tagliolini that was cooked perfectly al dente. For our main courses, he fried an Iberico pork cutlet that had apparently just arrived from Spain in a black truffle sauce and sauteed a sea bream fillet in a handful of Mediterranean spices.

For those who don't like to be surprised either by their food or by the price (the prices charged for dishes that are not on the menu are calculated afterwards based on the ingredients used, so those who specifically ask for kilos of truffles in their pasta will be graciously indulged but they may be in for a credit card shock afterwards), Luxor's ala carte and set menus (lunch from 1500 yen and a four-course tasting menu for 7000 yen plus tax and service charges) are equally attractive.

To accompany the meal, Luxor has an extensive selection of Italian, French and Californian wines in varying price ranges and also decent selections by the glass, including a reliable sauvignon blanc called Con Vento 2000, Castello Del Terriccio (1300 yen) and a full-bodied red called Mastremilio 2001, Villa Caprareccia (1500 yen).

Where to sit at Luxor depends on why you are going. If you want to exchange easy banter with Mario while he works, you should probably reserve one of the "Chef's Tables," which are a row of tables right next to the open kitchen counters. However, if you delight in seeing and being seen in a fashionable restaurant, the center tables provide a good vantage point. The Japanese diners tend to be on the chic side regardless of age. The night we were there, two impeccably dressed Japanese women in their 70s held court at a table nearby, complete with heirloom pearls. Within the foreign community, Luxor is a favorite of couples going out in groups, and of financial industry types on expense accounts who come often and demand the best meal possible, and who never even bother to look at the menu -- or the bill afterwards.

WHAT TO EAT
The ala carte menu changes seasonally so it's hard to recommend a particular dish. However, Luxor specializes in pasta and meat dishes, and its mainstay hand-made tagliolini is especially good.

WHAT TO DRINK
The Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Marina Cvetic 2000, Masciarelli (8500 yen) is a well-balanced red, while the Cubia Insolia 2002, Cosumano (7000 yen) is a flavorful Sicilian white that goes very well with appetizers and fish dishes.

WHERE TO SIT
The chef's table next to the open kitchen is great for foodies who like seeing the action in the kitchen. If you're more interested in people-watching, go for any of the center tables in the main dining area.

HOW MUCH DID IT COST?
About 26,000 yen for a set menu and several glasses of wine for two persons.

WHO GOES THERE?
Expensively dressed Japanese, bankers on expense accounts, models with their date-of-the-moment, foreign yuppie-type couples on group dates.

WHO TO ASK FOR
Nicolo, the Italian waiter, for food and Tetsuo Miyajima, the sommelier, for wine.

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