Address - Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Nishi-Azabu 4-11-25. Opening hours - 12 to 3, 6 to 11 Monday closed. Map - Yes (from the Tokyo Food Page) Telephone - 5485-1771 Menu - In Italian and Japanese CC - OK

Having read its glowing review in Tokyo Food Page's Restaurant Search Engine, I expected magnificent things from Esperia. In fact, just a first look at the menu, or rather menus, because there's also a long list (in Japanese) of additional dishes available only for the day, makes you realize that this is indeed an excellent Northern Italian restaurant. Others places I have tried have the Esperia's quality, but none has the astonishing variety of foods and drinks. Polenta, raw ham, lamb, bottarga (smoked cod roe), swordfish, gnocchi, 50 kinds of grappa, Italian amari and wines (sorry, no foreign ones) ... The list goes on an on.

I ordered assorted appetizers, linguine with bottarga, grilled lamb and assorted desserts. My beloved one had raw ham and mozzarella, risotto with funghi, grilled swordfish and assorted desserts. Everything was superb and service impeccable. When we ordered two grappas, the owner was so kind to bring at least 15 bottles to our table to let us choose, then suggested that we have two half glasses instead of a whole one, so that we could taste four different varieties. The one problem were the skimpy portions, the smallest I have ever seen, but since we didn't go hungry, it's a minor one.

Damages: 7000 yen apiece. Esperia is clearly not a restaurant where one eats every day, but it's absolutely worth the money. If you want to have a special evening on a special occasion with a special one, this is the place you are looking for.

December 25, 1999