Foodle

April 25, 2025 Lunch at the newest addition to the Cerea family portfolio of restaurants: @dav_davittorio located on the grounds of the Da Vittorio estate. The highlight was a superb Chianina beef 🥩 perfectly grilled.

#davittoriocantalupa #italy🇮🇹 #davittorio #thequest #mystorywithmichelin Less

🇨🇳 กลับมาที่ The Consul Club รอบสอง และครั้งนี้ตั้งใจมาลองอาหารจีนของ Rong Supper Club โดยเฉพาะ 😍

หลังจากรอบแรกที่มาแล้วประทับใจกับทั้งบรรยากาศและดีเทลของที่นี่มากๆ ก็เลยอยากกลับมาสัมผัสอีก vibe นึงของร้านในช่วงกลางคืนดูบ้าง ต้องบอกเลยว่าสวยคนละ mood กับตอนกลางวันสุดๆ แสงในร้าน วิวพาโนราม่า และการตกแต่งภายในที่ดูอลังการแบบ effortless เหมือนหลุดเข้าไปอยู่ในฉากหนัง จนเผลอลืมไปว่านี่คือร้านอาหารจีนในกรุงเทพ ยิ่งช่วงค่ำที่เริ่มมี live music ยิ่งทำให้เคลิ้บเคลิ้มไปอีก

ส่วนอาหารจีนของที่นี่ก็ทำออกมาได้โมเดิร์นดีทีเดียว ทั้งด้าน presentation และรสชาติ จานที่ติดใจเป็นพิเศษคือ กั้งทอดกระเทียมและโรลผักกาดขาว

ตอนนี้ถ้าถามว่า ร้านอาหารจีนที่บรรยากาศปังที่สุดในกรุงเทพคือที่ไหน
Rong Supper Club คงเป็นคำตอบแรกตอนนี้เลยจริง ๆ 🖤✨

ปล. ร้านอยู่ชั้น 30 ตึก JLK Tower มีที่จอดรถสะดวก
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📍@theconsulclub - นานา
#orn_bellyjourney #orn_chinese #orn_theconsulclub Less

Tokyo’s dining scene is filled with restaurants built around concepts, pedigrees and carefully polished identities. AZ feels different. It is, at its core, a chef cooking the food he wants to cook.

The restaurant is essentially run by a single man. Kazuki Yokohama serves as chef, host and sommelier, assisted only with basic support and dishwashing. There is no brigade, no elaborate choreography and little in the way of theatrics. The focus is squarely on ingredients, cooking and hospitality.

Yokohama’s background helps explain the character of the restaurant. Originally from Shizuoka Prefecture and raised in Iwate, he trained at the prestigious Tsuji culinary school in Tokyo before spending roughly eight years working within a restaurant group operating in Ebisu and Nakameguro. Unlike many chefs who focus exclusively on the kitchen, he also earned certification as a J.S.A. Sommelier through the Japan Sommelier Association, one of Japan’s most respected professional wine qualifications. The dual training is evident throughout the experience. AZ is not simply a restaurant run by a chef; it is a restaurant run by someone who thinks equally about food, wine and hospitality.

Our visit was entirely unplanned. After a concert at Suntory Hall, we called on the off chance that they might be able to accommodate two late arrivals. Rather than turning us away, Yokohama welcomed us in and assembled a short tasting menu from what was available that evening, incorporating a couple of personal requests along the way. The result felt less like a restaurant performance and more like being cooked for by an exceptionally talented host.

The menu moved comfortably between Italy and Japan. It began with aged ham and olives, followed by Hokkaido trout, grilled vegetables, sea bream from Kumamoto, octopus and a succession of thoughtfully composed dishes showcasing excellent seasonal produce. Throughout the meal, the quality of the ingredients was immediately apparent, but equally impressive was the restraint with which they were handled. Nothing felt overcomplicated. Every dish seemed designed to highlight rather than disguise its primary ingredient.

The chef was also happy to accommodate a small request and prepared two pasta courses that were not part of the standard sequence. The first, a spaghettini with hamaguri clams and young leeks, was beautifully understated, allowing the natural sweetness and salinity of the clams to take centre stage. The second was a classic Bolognese prepared at our request. It would have been easy for such a dish to feel out of place in a menu built around premium seafood and seasonal produce, but instead it felt entirely natural—comforting, deeply flavoured and executed with the same care as the rest of the meal.

One detail that stood out during the evening was Yokohama’s approach to pasta. In an era where many ambitious Italian restaurants automatically equate quality with house-made fresh pasta, he deliberately goes in the opposite direction. He uses a premium dried pasta from a carefully selected producer, believing it provides superior texture and structure for the sauces he serves. After tasting the pasta courses, it is difficult to argue with the results. The pasta possessed the firmness and resilience that only excellent dried pasta can achieve, providing the perfect vehicle for both the delicate clam sauce and the richer Bolognese.

The highlight of the meal for me was the beef course. Rather than the young, heavily marbled Wagyu typically associated with luxury Japanese beef, Yokohama served mature Tajima cattle from Awaji Island. Tajima cattle are the ancient purebred foundation of Japanese Wagyu, prized for their unique genetics and low-melting-point fat. While commercial Kobe beef generally focuses on carefully raised steers around thirty months of age, these rare mother cows spend many years developing flavour and character. The result is fundamentally different: firmer texture, less overt richness, but layers of nutty, savoury umami that younger cattle simply cannot achieve.

This style of beef is not for everyone. Diners expecting the buttery softness of conventional Kobe may find it too firm. I happen to fall firmly into the other camp. The additional maturity creates complexity, depth and persistence of flavour that reward chewing and contemplation. It is beef with personality rather than merely texture.

Equally noteworthy was the wine service. Yokohama’s J.S.A. sommelier training was evident in the thoughtful recommendations throughout the meal. The pairings felt natural rather than formulaic, enhancing the dishes without drawing attention to themselves. His ability to move seamlessly between the roles of chef, sommelier and host contributed enormously to the relaxed and personal atmosphere of the evening.

What struck me most about AZ was the consistency of the chef’s convictions. The mature Tajima beef and the decision to use premium dried pasta instead of fresh pasta are both expressions of the same philosophy. He is not particularly interested in following convention or meeting preconceived expectations. He simply chooses what he believes produces the best flavour.

AZ is unlikely to be mentioned alongside Tokyo’s grand tasting-menu destinations, nor does it seem interested in competing with them. What it offers instead is something increasingly rare: a talented chef-sommelier cooking excellent ingredients according to his own convictions, while remaining flexible enough to welcome two unexpected guests after a concert and cook them a memorable dinner.

Sometimes that is more than enough. Less

New Orleans style hot tamales by the plate or pressed into a po-boy.

A hot sausage po-boy made extra, extra hot with chili and jalapenos.

Fried chicken that’s served lickety split quick but is still crisp and crunchy.

Boudin balls for a road snack and Bunny Bread and milk jugs for the neighbors.

What is this place? It’s @guillorysdeli , a one-time grocery long ago turned into an old school lunch counter well hidden on a residential stretch of Metairie — a suitably old-fashioned place to rediscover the increasingly rare regional variety of New Orleans style hot tamales.

It’s run by three brothers. Their dad’s hot tamale recipe was once a bar snack at a pool hall down the street. Then it made it to the deli menu and into a po-boy.

Link in my bio has the full read

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #metairie #neworleansfood #nolaeats Less

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【本格さぬきうどん 穂乃香】

尼崎の商店街で行列を生み続ける『本格さぬきうどん　穂乃香』。創業は2009年。“本格”の四文字を掲げて十数年、地元に根を張りながらも讃岐の剛さを貫いてきた一軒だ。店先は気取った暖簾というより、白地に赤文字の屋号が並ぶ実直な店構え。飾りよりも中身。うどんで勝負するという意思表示がそのまま外観になっている。

店に入ると、すぐ横に製麺のスペース。客がその横を通り抜ける距離感だ。延ばされた生地に刃が入るリズム、揃った幅で切り分けられていく極太麺。その工程をすぐ隣で感じながら注文へ向かう。四国で修業した店主が天候に合わせて粉を調整し、打ち、切り、茹でる。その流れが、食べる前から体験として始まっている。

名物は「肉ぶっかけ」。丼の半分を覆うほどの牛肉の量感がまず視覚を支配する。冷たいうどんを頼んでも、甘辛く炊かれた肉からは湯気が立つ。温と冷のコントラスト。箸を差し込めば、極太麺がぐっと押し返してくる。噛むほどに跳ね返るような弾力。さっき横で切られていた麺が、そのまま顎に挑んでくる感覚だ。

肉は濃い。甘辛の輪郭がはっきりした味付け。その力強さに対して、レモンの酸味、大根おろしの清涼、青葱の辛味が緩衝材として働く。肉の脂を切り、味の重心を持ち上げ、再び麺へと意識を戻す構成。出汁は肉の影響もあってか甘味が強い。

ボリュームも相当。麺量もしっかり、肉も遠慮なし。剛麺と濃い肉が真正面からぶつかる一杯は、満腹中枢に直球で届くタイプだ。尼崎の商店街で行列ができる理由はシンプルだ。噛み応えのある讃岐の剛麺を、これでもかと堪能させること。腹を空かせて向かうべき一杯、ご馳走様でした。
#本格さぬきうどん Less

A #notsushi post, but it's about tuna (kind of).
One of best places to casually eat seasonal seafood is an izakaya. Even mid-level ones will have seasonal sashimi on the menu, and there may even be some surprises. These pictures are from Kane Masu near Kachidoki, which opens mid-afternoon and closes before 8pm. I guess their business is mostly focused on catching commuters before they grab the train home. Which kind of makes sense, since this area is pretty dead at night.
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These pictures are from a visit a few years ago, where both tuna head meat (noten) and rib scraps (nakaochi) were on the menu. Both uncommon cuts for sushi, but super tender and delicious. Served rustically, almost in a pile, with a chunk of wasabi. These were two of about 6 or 7 dishes that night, which included nikomi (beef stew with tendon). Many izakaya will have a pot of nikomi cooking away all day, and it's usually the "specialty" which means you should order a least a serving to try. It's like tasting the character of the shop.
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Years ago, Kane Masu became famous for serving raw wagyu "maki" stuffed with uni and that became a sort of insta-hype item, but it seems it is no longer on the menu anymore. Not that you'd be able to tell, as the menu is illegible even to some Japanese-speakers. I could probably make 5 or 6 more posts on this place, but this account isn't @izakayaaddict so I'll just say that this is definitely a spot worth visiting. Less