DUDE! the answer to the question about Grand Tastings was awesome! i go to big tastings all the time….. with that said i still get sucked into tasting the big boys and then i am done and don’t get into tasting the new boys on the block. In the past year i have used a new approach with much success…. i go and try the wines that have intrigued me, then i will taste this big dogs if i am up for it!

Thanks for the note on the Leoville Las Case! With that said i know my cellar-ed Mag will go for 20+ so i figure i will hold it till my 50th birthday!

I’m a New Hampshire boy currently living in Tokyo, Japan, and, as you may have heard, Tokyo was recently rated by Michelin as the world’s #1 city for gourmet. Not that I choose to frequent (not could afford to) starred restaurants, and of course its great to enjoy the indigenous cuisine here, but Tokyo has some amazing foreign restaurants.

My favorite Italian restaurant is Evo in Ebisu, Tokyo, near downtown. I love it, and I’m used to awesome Italian in Boston’s North End, so I was really impressed by this restaurant here. Evo is authentic (not that I’ve been to Italy), cozy and warm, with knowledgeable staff (both Italian and Japanese), an awesome stone furnace where they cook the best pizza I’ve had in Tokyo, an open patio when it’s warm… Really a great place.

I also enjoyed Greco di Tufo (only 4,000 yen on the wine list) for the first time here, at the recommendation of the young female sommelier, and I’m rarely a white wine kinda guy.

Anyway, if you’re ever in Tokyo for just a short time I recommend you focus on eating the best Japanese food you can (and there’s so much more than sushi in this city’s 80,000 eating establishments), but Evo is a great place that I’d bring anyone.

I’m a New Hampshire boy currently living in Tokyo, Japan, and, as you may have heard, Tokyo was recently rated by Michelin as the world’s #1 city for gourmet. Not that I choose to frequent (not could afford to) starred restaurants, and of course its great to enjoy the indigenous cuisine here, but Tokyo has some amazing foreign restaurants.

My favorite Italian restaurant is Evo in Ebisu, Tokyo, near downtown. I love it, and I’m used to awesome Italian in Boston’s North End, so I was really impressed by this restaurant here. Evo is authentic (not that I’ve been to Italy), cozy and warm, with knowledgeable staff (both Italian and Japanese), an awesome stone furnace where they cook the best pizza I’ve had in Tokyo, an open patio when it’s warm… Really a great place.

I also enjoyed Greco di Tufo (only 4,000 yen on the wine list) for the first time here, at the recommendation of the young female sommelier, and I’m rarely a white wine kinda guy.

Anyway, if you’re ever in Tokyo for just a short time I recommend you focus on eating the best Japanese food you can (and there’s so much more than sushi in this city’s 80,000 eating establishments), but Evo is a great place that I’d bring anyone.