After a week of training in Boston, I returned to start the on the job training in Tokyo...and, I'm not going to lie, it has been tough. This is completely new industry for me, and there are a lot of technical terms I need to learn in Japanese. However, my manager and team members are all really awesome people, and keep on telling me that the first three months will be hard, and then level out.
My manager took myself and another new team member out for lunch a bit away from the office, at an incredible little Italian restaurant called L'Asse. If you didn't know it was there, you would walk right past it, which would be a terrible pity.
Apparently it has a Michelin star, and well-deserved. From the service (where they kindly accommodated my non-carnivorous lifestyle choice), to the quality of the olive oil, nothing was half-handed. The daily lunch set is probably somewhere around 2500-3000 yen, and includes an amuse bouche, starter, main dish, dessert and coffee. As you can see, the presentation is splendid.
Since my manager appears to be a regular, we were also surprised with a platter of beautiful mini desserts. My favorite were the 'satou gashi' with blueberries and micro tomatoes.
For a romantic, intimate dinner, L'Asse would be an excellent choice (please note, however, that prices will be much higher in the evening).
I could totally get used to this!
