Post #525189 by midnite on Wed, Apr 21, 2010 12:01 AM

JAPAN
Tokyo

Part Three: This must be the place

"I'll be at the bar...in Tokyo."

That will be my response. Put it on the voice mail greeting, perhaps send a mass email, notify whom it may concern. I shall be in the bar, and I will be happy.

May we dispose of the niceties, the social platitudes, the protocols of everyday polite discourse? Yes, the temple is nice, the cherry blossoms pretty, the cities clean. Japan's is a lengthy history; she is a land of great innovation and accomplishment. It is a cultured and advanced society. I do like it so, but I can leave it. I can leave it all behind for that tiny room, likely without windows, and simply live. I mean by this not just imbibe to drunkenness. Any one coin bar in Shinjuku will satisfy that pedestrian goal. No, I mean a real cocktail bar. The sort of place one orders a drink and savors both it and the convivial atmosphere it engenders. An elegant glass, a measure of liquor, that glorious ice. Perfection.

The best bars in the world are in Tokyo. If you care about cocktails like someone I know, you must get there someday. You will saddle up to the polished hardwood, and while upon that bar stool you shall be king, or queen, of the mountain. Having ascended the cocktail summit, reaching the genre's pinnacle, you will never again think of your local in the same way. These bars are that great, their proprietors that dedicated to their craft, their concoctions that magnificent.

THE BEST BARS ON EARTH

The Japanese did not invent it. We did. They didn't originate many of the recipes. We did most of that, too. They don't produce much of the booze. Numerous others do that. They just do it, better. It, is the art of the cocktail and in Tokyo it is produced at the highest level. The best bars, the best service, the single greatest cocktail I have ever had. The...best...cocktail...ever.

Bar Ishinohana

You may have seen this Shibuya bar featured on Anthony Bourdain's Travel Channel program. In the first basement of a non-descript office tower, Ishinohana, like so many of Tokyo's great bars, appears as a plain wood door and simple metal sign to the unknowing. Step inside and one enters a cocktail laboratory. Spend a few moments looking at the ice. It is astonishing. It's just frozen water but the stuff is a sight to behold. Clear, diamond-like. Ishinohana is a high-end drinking emporium dedicated to the fine arts of bartending. Notice I refrain from using the trendy parlance of the day: mixology. These gentlemen, and a few ladies, tend bar.

The room is modern, dressed up more than the other bars we'd visit during our stay. Mr. Ishigaki was not behind the bar when we arrived, so his able assistant bartender made our first drinks. The fair Michelle orders the cocktail that put Ishigaki on the map, Claudia. A bit over the top with its cascading garnish of cut radish, cherry, lime peel, and pineapple leaf, I am suspicious of its close proximity to goofy-cocktaildom. I am wrong to judge this book by some random vegetation. Rum-based with a dusting of red peppercorns on top, this mix of vermouth, pineapple juice, and caramel, is fantastic. Shoot, it may look gimmicky, but this thing did not win a worldwide drink contest because of a cute name and salad garnish. We continued to drink from Ishinohana's menu of original drinks.

My first selection was not as successful. A mango-based martini I believe the bartender failed to prepare properly. A bit alarming when one is talking nearly $20 per drink, but things got much better when I tried the Ishinohana original "Oriental Beauty". A simple cocktail of anisette and kurant vodka it possesses a layered array of flavors. Michelle had a Wasabai Alexander which she declared quite good, thank you very much. Mr. Ishigaki arrived soon after and I decided to have one of his signature Claudia cocktails. It seemed appropriate to have one made by the originator. It really is an amazing drink. The two types of pepper contrast with the sweet caramel resulting in a surprisingly tasty combination. We left impressed.

The other bars we frequented were located in Ginza district. Ginza is home to literally thousands of small bars, restaurants, parlors, and lounges. The sheer amount is astounding until one realizes there are over twelve million Tokyo residents and most of the bars are tiny establishments capable of seating perhaps twenty or thirty patrons. The two following bars in Ginza, and those like them, do pack more cocktail expertise and drinking enjoyment into their small footprints than any places in the world.

Tender Bar

If Japan made me feel at home, which it did, Ginza's Tender Bar was my home address. If someone asks, Tender Bar is where I'll be...where I'll be.

Tender Bar is set in a utilitarian office building, on the same floor as a hairdresser. Its plain entrance belies the sanctuary behind it. Enter that door and one is immediately greeted by a white-coated bar steward. Soft, difused light fills the bar. Appropriate music is piped in, quietly. There are no windows. It is a cocoon. One's blood pressure seems to lower the minute the door is silently closed behind you. The proprietor and head bartender is Mr. Kazuo Uyeda. His is a name known by bartenders and drinking connoisseurs the world over. Originator of the "hard shake" one can learn much about him on the net. That is not my intention herein. No, I wish only to convey the sense of what it is to drink at Tender Bar.

Mr. Uyeda masterfully prepares and serves the classics. Old recipe cocktails mixed with attention and service as they must have been served in the States five or more decades ago. Each ingredient, each liquor bottle with its label facing the customer, is placed on the bar in front of the customer. Everything is immaculate. The glass, the shakers, that beautiful Japanese ice. Yes, the incredible ice, expertly hand-carved into varying shapes for specific drinks. If serving a cocktail can be art Uyeda is a true master. The customer's interests are queried if one desires assistance in selecting a cocktail. "What liquor do you prefer, sir? Do you enjoy short or long drinks? Is there a flavor you wish to investigate, do you prefer sweet or sour?" Sure, many bars do this sort of thing, even here in Frisco. No one, I mean no one, does it like these bars. It's not feigned, it's not an act, not some hoops they jump through for a bigger tip. Mr. Uyeda and his disciplined crew of bar stewards deeply respect cocktails and those who enjoy them. There is passion here, dedication to a craft that is founded in mastery of a particular skill set. Bartending in Japan is a respected and desired career position. Tender Bar, like others in Tokyo, has taken the American experience of fine cocktails and preserved it. They're keeping the theme alive here, and they are perfecting it.

We went to Tender three of our four nights in Tokyo. Our new friend Gary the bar steward (not his real name but it seemed to fit) told us no Western tourists had ever been back three nights. We'd have gone a fourth but for our visit to Yokohama's TIKI TIKI. I tried a multitude of cocktails because although the price of these gems is steep, the alcohol content is set for Japanese tastes and body types. Translation: I could burn holes in the Amex and never get toasted. Gimlet, Sidecar, Sours, Coolers, even my dear friend the Old Fashioned. Simple, elegant, timeless drinks made by an expert, true to the original recipes. My favorite was a grapefruit-based drink Uyeda made for Tender Bar's first anniversary. These cocktails take time to make and one enjoys them much longer than normal. There is no hurry here, you are expected to savor the drink and relish the experience. We would finish our first round and notice an hour had passed. During our final visit the elegant older couple next to us ordered a cocktail and much discussion ensued between Mr. Uyeda and them. They had been, as were we, ordering different cocktails while most customers sipped the ever popular single malts. I asked this couple the drink's name and ingredients. This started a conversation which resulted in their insistence I sample their drink. The stylish dame knew enough English, both really knew their cocktails. In a fit of awareness usually reserved for more sober moments I realized, "They're us!" The two of them, spending a long time in a bar, talking drinks with Uyeda, sharing with those around them. Yes, a bit older, invariably much more sophisticated, but they're us. The Japanese midnites!

That was a smile and a half among the special evenings at Tender. Mr Uyeda's bar is my favorite spot in my new favorite country. This must be the place, I thought. It is.

HIGH FIVE

The best for last? Yes, in some respects. Tender Bar is my favorite, no doubt. However, for pure cocktail excellence there is but one place to visit, and one bartender to make the drinks. The place is Bar High Five and the owner/bartender is Hidetsugu Ueno. Again, one can read much all over the net about the man and his skills. I concur with the conventional wisdom about Mr. Ueno's talents and his dominating stature in the Tokyo cocktail scene. Suffice to say, at Bar High Five in Ginza I had the best cocktail of my life.

The man does not suffer from bouts of humble modesty. He is full of himself and his abilities. His opinions on cocktails, bartending, the state of other bars including those of some well-known Tokyo masters, are freely shared. He knows he is good, he'll tell you as much. He walks it, though. The bar is smaller than my college apartment, with seating for maybe fifteen. It is nothing special. The space is a dark shoebox of a room, not really that well decorated, a bit shabby. The place reminded me of a professor's home office, whose many books are instead bottles of high-end liquor. There's a huge ham (he cures his own Iberian-style Jamon) at the end of the bar, a small hot plate behind a curtain in the corner. A single dirty picture window offers a birdseye view of the Tokyo expressway. The place is a bit of a downmarket stepsister to the elegance of Ishinohana and the luxurious comfort of Tender. Absolutely none of it matters once the glass is set on the coaster in front of you.

I had read up on Ueno and learned from other bartenders that one should try his Pina Colada. "Yes," wrote one bar expert, "have the Pina Colada." So, Michelle did just that as she does enjoy a good blended tropical drink. This was not simply a good Pina Colada. This was Godzilla Pina Colada, destroying all other such drinks, leaving befuddled, stunned, and astonished any drinker who got in its way. Devastation in a simple glass, no garnish necessary. Nothing to distract the drinker, simplicity in the form of utter perfection.

My initial strategy was to enlist the bar stewards' help in making my selection. What I really wanted was for them to say, "Here, we know more than you, drink up." However, that is really not the Japanese way. After some discussion the conclusion was I like rum (I suggested Havana Club), long drinks, on the sour side. The bar steward told this to Ueno along with his choices for my drink. Ueno, with the wave of one hand dismissed the employee. He muttered a few words to his bar stewards, shot his cuffs and pulled at his braces. He paced a bit, deep in thought, formulating a recipe on the spot. Sure, it was a bit of a show, but I gladly bought it. The ingredients were placed in front of me. It was a type of cooler, with a Sakura liqueur employed as a nod to the season. It was refreshing, light and entirely appropriate once Ueno told me his thought process. He explained that this morning in Tokyo had been bright and clear; the sun coming out after several days of rain. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and it seemed to him that this was the best day of the year. The nameless drink, said Ueno, was his expression of the Spring which had just started. Okay, this guy is good.

I figured this was going to be expensive but the time was so right, the drinks so exceptional, I could not leave. Another, yes, I shall have another. This decision was more difficult. I knew we had much more on our plate for Tokyo and I likely would not be back to High Five. Do I order an Old Fashioned, maybe a nice Martini? This time it was soley my call, and I was stumped. I was blocked. Yet in the back of my mind I had this recurring thought, something I had read about Ueno. "Singapore Sling... Singapore Sling", was the refrain. I kept hearing it. His were purported to be legendary. But another tropical drink? Okay, let's do it: Singapore Sling.

Eight ingredients later (the most of any drink he mixes) it was placed in front of me. I tried it. One eyebrow arched and I could only think: Holy shit! Ueno awaited my reaction. Playing it cool and not feeding his ample ego I merely said, "Pretty good." He shrugged and responded with a sense of dejection, "Hmm, pretty good? Okay." Then I bust out laughing, telling him in all truthfullness that this was the best drink I had ever had. No hyperbole, no exagerration, just the facts. The...best...cocktail. Ever.

I had reached the summit. For those brief moments I was in the ether, atop the cocktail world if you will. Ueno, playing my bartending sherpa, got me up the mountain, showed me the view from the highest peak. It was time to descend. The ample bill settled Mr. Ueno walked us to the elevator and warmly bid us farewell. For some time I did not speak, I was stunned into silence. A quick glance to Michelle and a wry smile was all I could muster. She knew what I was thinking. She'd know, if the need arose, where to find me.

At the bar in Tokyo.

midnite