In every night In the darkest, most depressing depths of the epidemic, a TV show I watched over and over helped me. midnight mealA series on Netflix Set in a Tokyo restaurant, a healing balm and reminder of the warmth of being surrounded by people.
The chef at this izakaya, known simply as “the master,” is a cook surrounded on three sides by a service counter at which loyal regulars bask in each other’s company. Perhaps thought of as an ironic cousin to the 1980s NBC sitcom cheersEach episode tells a sweet, sad, or occasionally heartbreaking story. The master, a man of few words with a mysterious scar on his face, is like their conscience and believer, helping to understand the world. The characters are kind, quirky and loyal.
As a taxi rolls dreamily through the Shinjuku neighborhood in the opening credits, the master utters a small voice: “When people finish their day and go home early, my day begins… My dinner is from midnight to seven in the morning. Open till They call it ‘Midnight Dinner’. Do I even have clients? More than you expected.”
A little research confirmed that the izakaya in the show is completely fictional, yet I wanted to believe this kind of food place and that kind of feeling was real. On a recent trip to Tokyo, I set out to find one like this.
“An ideal in your heart”
I begin to see elements that I expected to find surprisingly quickly. I immediately find a postage-stamp-sized bar in my neighborhood where people are friendly and curious. At my first dinner at an izakaya in the Nakano neighborhood, the food is surprisingly good for a casual place: generous and crunchy sashimi, fish collar, cucumber with sesame, seared mushrooms, and an Asahi super dry or two. . The busy, cheerful waitstaff still takes the time to help me navigate the menu.
Just 24 hours into my trip, I meet the restaurant reviewer Maki Makimoto on the Toranomon YokochoA multi-restaurant project he has helped put together is like a food court in heaven. When I arrive with my fixer and translator, Mai Nomura, he’s sporting a short-brimmed fedora and talking to a chef. More than fried chicken, grilled sardines, fried oysters, and fried tofu, we bond with a love. midnight mealBut my first real question for him is whether such a place exists.
