2007 Fall Dining Guide
By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Magazine
Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007

Tradition -- and excellence -- reign at this intimate Japanese restaurant. At the door, patrons shed their shoes for slippers. At the table, sake is proffered in a small cedar box, the wasabi with your sushi is fresh, and the waitresses tend to their charges as if they were geisha, dabbing the tiniest drop of beer from diners' black marble place mats (and covering the briefcase you park on a free seat with a starched white napkin). To catch the best show, request a place at the wooden counter -- so close to the open kitchen that you feel the heat of the flames every time the chef adds a splash of alcohol to a pan -- and order the eight- to 10-course tasting menu. The edible pageant that follows might embrace mussels in a ginger-y broth, silken tofu dotted with salty plum, crunchy soft-shell crab served with green tea and chili powders, delicate fingers of sushi, an elegant salad of slivered apple, onion and shiso -- plus whatever mushrooms are in season, rosy beef with a light gravy of soy sauce and sake, and sparkling shaved ice flavored with grape and Grand Marnier. The details at this 16-year-old gem are exquisite. When's the last time you saw a cocktail napkin worthy of a frame?