Soundtrack: Bud Powell's Un Poco Loco
I was in Kyoto this past weekend for 花見 (hanami, or Cherry Blossom viewing but more on that later) and my first night there, we went to the best Pizza restaurant I've been to in Japan: Al Camino.
I have enjoyed some fantastic meals while living in Japan. These have obviously included regional specialties particular to areas of the Islands, but more surprisingly, some foreign cuisine re-interpreted with delicious results. I use re-interpreted in a very lose sense. The first step seems to be the studying and mastering of the foreign cuisine, followed by subtle additions. It's hard to describe, but as with many of the imports I've encountered here, they all are refocused with a particularly powerful lens, making the end result intense and fascinating. I digress, I started this entry to talk about Al Camino!
I wrote a few pages dissecting the wine we had and the pizza and even evaluating the decore, but I'll save you the trouble and just share the essentials. While the baking process was traditional Italian (wood burned super heated clay stove) and the chef was actually imported from Italy for his incredible skill, the ingredients were not so traditional. He mixed familiar favorites (pepperoni & olive) with Japanese style (eggs & mayonnaise) with his own preferences (selected squash and prosciutto). The result was a pizza that held the cheese together, was thicker than the New York style but no where near the massive Chicago.
The be all and end all being this: best pizza in Japan.
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2 comments:
do you remember on what street the restaurant can be found?
It's tucked in an alley behind the P-Times building... I don't know the street names but it is close to a JR station who's name I don't remember... Sorry I couldn't help more! I think the restaurant is only 1 year old too.
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