liver and cream cheese spread with a pear champagne cocktail at Shoto-Club

 

One doesn’t immediately associate cocktails with Japan, but as I quickly witnessed and learned first hand, the Japanese are champions of perfecting everything in their own country’s traditions as well as preserving and amplifying traditions of other cultures in regard to food, fashion, and design. Basically, they are obsessive perfectionists and I loved every minute I was there. There was an eight page article in Bon Appetit’s September Issue about the Cocktail Revolution in Tokyo, which the author claims surpasses that of New York City and London. This, of course, sounded enticing, yet not surprising.

 

Men in Plaid at Shoto-Club 

I had never been to Asia, let alone Tokyo, and had no idea what I was in for in terms of navigating through the city. It’s not the kind of city where you jump in a cab every two blocks to go bar hopping, unless paying $40 a cab ride sounds like fun. The cabs all have automatic doors, meaning they open and close them for you, but the price is high since the subway closes at midnight every night. Tokyo is much like a virtual 4D maze of office buildings and sky rises and non existent or incomprehensible addresses.

 

 

 

 traditional white waistcoat uniforms at the Tender Bar

 

In my four days in Tokyo, I managed to check out two bars on the list of eight that were in the article, The Tender Bar in Ginza and Shoto-Club in Shibuya.  We went to another one that was a bit out of the way, Misty Opar’s, but it had its own unique charm as a traditional English tea shop by day and a bar at night, complete with a revolving coffee maker and an automated shelf that came down and covered the innocent tea cups with all the glassware for a fully equipped bar.

 

 the tea and coffee shelves that switch into the bar at night at Misty Opar’s, automatic style.

 

 

Misty Opar’s well stocked bar at night.

 

 

  

Shoto-Club coaster 

  

My favorite was Shoto-Club, not only for the cool plaid vests, but because my friends Georges Sakai and Maya Nishimura, were able to engage the owner and bartender, Ryougi Kodama and Takumi Tsugawa in the blue colored vests, in an in-depth conversation about the cocktail culture in Tokyo.  We got a lowdown of the history of the bar itself, and the mixers and imported spirits that are banned from being imported into Japan due to some new strict agricultural regulations. They cannot make the perfect gimlet or martini that people ask for from the recent 007 James Bond film because Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice and LIllet Blanc are among two mixers that are on the list of banned imports. I know what to smuggle back into Japan next time, as long as the drug sniffing golden retrievers don’t sit down next to me in customs. But they look so cute.

 

 

Unlike Tender Bar, which is located in Ginza, which was the Beverly Hills of Tokyo, Shoto was not stuffy. They were formal and proper, but not uptight. There is a difference. The Tender Bar’s stellar reputation lies in the owner, Kazuo Ueda, who has been accredited with preserving and heightening the cocktail culture in Tokyo, coining the “hard shake” and making his own house salami and cornichons. The white waistcoat uniforms reminded me of the movie, ‘The Shining’, very nostalgic and other era. Makes sense since the bar has been likened to an ‘old school speakeasy’.

 

 

artisanal snacks at Tender Bar 

 

At Shoto-Club, the owner told us about the history of the area where the bar is located. Udagawacho was famous as a tea area in Shibuya-ku, in ancient times. The word ’shoto’ is the term that describes the movement that occurs when putting tea into water that is just about to boil. Quite a poetic thing to name a bar after, and didn’t I feel silly when I thought ’shoto’ was just the Japanese way to say ’shot’. 

 

husband and wife team behind Misty Opar’s, charming neighborhood bar in outerTokyo.

 

In between showing us some fancy dice shaking and rolling like we were at a Vegas craps table, he also told us about a small tradition of the mint plant. The dice game was how bartenders learn the quick flick of the wrist for the proper shaking technique.  It was really impressive when he flipped the cup onto the table, moved it swiftly, three times towards himself and then lifted the cup and unveiled that all four die were stacked vertically on top of one another. Wow. LIke any food service in Japan, everything is done with pride and tradition. Mint plants were very expensive a long time ago in Japan. Once an apprentice was initiated into being a full-fledge bartender, he would be presented with a mint plant that he was to keep alive in his own bar. Shoto-Club is in the basement so they were off the hook on this one, and mint plants are not rare anymore, but the tradition is maintained and will explain why you will see mint plants in many bars in Tokyo.  The owner also shared with us that the best blend of mint is actually a combination of spearmint and peppermint plants that are grown in the same pot, allowing the roots to intermingle. They treated their mixers and seasonal, regional ingredients like those of a 3 star MIchelin restaurant.

 

The namesake drink, the “Shoto” with green tea or course.

 

Some memorable cocktails we had were seasonal as well as ‘omikase’ which is much like going to a sushi bar and having the chef surprise you. The softness of some of the wine and champagne cocktails was nice. All the produce used was of top notch quality. But even on drinks that used hard alcohol, nothing tasted like alcohol and was void of the overly strong drinks I have had my whole life that taste like nail polish remover. The Japanese love their perfect produce. We saw bunches of grapes on pedestals selling for about $80. Beautiful, perfect grapes.

 

something pretty to drink at Tender Bar

 

Pear infused champagne made with fresh pear and pear liqueur

White nectarine wodka grey goose

Gin and Malibu with a splash of pineapple juice and green tea the “Shoto”

Sauvignon Blanc with tonic water and grapefruit

 

Shoto-Club

Kazama Bldg B1F 37-12

Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku

011-81-3 3465-1932

 

Warning: Bring a Japanese reading or speaking friend. The cab dropped us off and we still could not find it.  Even with the detailed address for Shoto-club, we had to call. There is no English sign on the building and it is on the basement floor of a high rise, next to some small convenience store.  Good luck!

 

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Going to high-end bars like Shoto and Tender were a “I am on vacation” treat. In LA, if I go out at all, it’s mostly to dive bars, places that look like they were dive bars, open bar events or bars that the bartenders are wearing lederhosen and the drink of the night is beer. In other words, nothing fancy. I suppose there are places in LA that one can spend $14+ on a cocktail but who wants to deal with the Hollywood crowd. 

 

There will be no performance of your drink being made. You won’t be getting seasonal fresh fruit muddled with ‘wodka’, or artisan salumi and liver spread amuse bouches. You’re lucky if you get anything to nosh on. And your server will be a girl in a cropped shirt with a tramp stamp. No swanky uniforms to be had here. Forget about hot towels and having someone pull out your seat every time you go to the restroom, hand carved ice blocks for each drink, and top notch service with a splash of the “hard mix” performance art, that makes the cocktails about 10˚ colder.

 

These are things that put the ‘tender’ back in bars.