I love Alex Zalban’s comment, “I’ll buy almost anything if it’s shiny and made by Apple” Apple “Fan Boi” spirit is alive and well.

With this kind of great innovation I can’t wait to get a look at the next generation iPhone or “iPhone Nano” !

It was cold, raining, snowing, I stepped into a pool of water up to my knee with my new cowboy boots on, I had Shrimp Curry for lunch, and the day ended in too many Beers, Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki, Karaoke  and a Pillow full of rocks.. pretty standard Japanese new year.

明けましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いしま

Kumano Shrine - January 1st 2009 - 元旦 from Paul Hartrick on Vimeo.

The restaurant’s name is Salt and serves a fine selection of Modern Australian cuisine and is co-owned by Luke Mangan.

“Luke Mangan, chef, was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1970. In the 1990s, he learned from Michel Roux, three star chef in London and later went to Sydney. From 1999 to 2005, he owned Salt (the same name as the restaurant in the Shin-Marunouchi Building) in Darlinghurst. Taking advantage of his success in Darlinghurst, Mangan opened Bistro Lulu in 2000, which led to him becoming a star chef in Sydney. These two restaurants moved on, disappointing the locals, tourists to summer resorts and even Hollywood stars. In 2005, he started the Glass Brasserie restaurant with 240 seats in the renovated Hilton Hotel in Sydney. While serving as a chef at functions and interacting with celebrities throughout the world, he contributes to finding and nurturing young chefs. His energetic activities are inspiring and strengthen the partnership between Luke Mangan and PJ Group.”

The night started at the adjoining Luke Mangan Wine Bar,  w.w (World Wine), with a refreshing Leffe beer.

We then proceed into a most relaxing atmosphere for a civilized 6 course Christmas  dining experience. On top of the great food there is a fantastic wine list of which we had a couple of bottles of nice Australian Reds.

If your looking for a great food, great wine and a fantastic dining experience in Tokyo then you should definitely put “Salt by Luke Mangan” on the list.

What you won’t get is annoying people screaming orders into earpiece microphones, you won’t get your order served all at once covering the entire table leaving no room for your glass, you won’t get a less than classy buzzer on the table and you definitely wont see discount coupons and people splitting the bill down to the last 5 yen as you leave.

What you will get is , great food, endless warm bread rolls, your meal choices served in order and only when you are ready, a full glass at all times, proper wine glasses, cute well dressed staff serving you, staff that actually know what they are serving you, wine recommendations, and a $200+ per head bill… well worth every dollar.

]]> http://paulhartrick.com/christmas-dinner-salt/feed http://paulhartrick.com/tokyo-random-happenings http://paulhartrick.com/tokyo-random-happenings#comments Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:12:18 +0000 -Paul http://paulhartrick.com/?p=755 I was out at a bar in Kabukichou last night with some online friends. One of them was at the bar getting the next round of drinks when he was treated to a Tokyo Random Happening.

Friend: (At the bar)  Rum and Coke, Beer and Zima please.

Complete J stranger: You drink Zima do you?

Friend: I don’t drink Zima it’s for my mate.

Complete J Stranger: You should drink Zima

Friend: (Speechless).

Just another gem life dishes up in this great town.