Nippon Italian

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Our foursome has been busy traveling over the last few months, so it's taken us more than half a year to meet up after our last gathering. Ms. Hurricane had enjoyed her meal at Citrino da Yoshinaga Jinbo and suggested the rest of us check it out. I'm always happy trying out recommendations on Italian restaurants in town, as there really aren't too many that I would return to, so I showed up with an open mind and managed my expectations after having spoken to someone else about their experience.

We started with a slight hiccup in service. I brought a bottle of white wine that I placed on our table. For some reason no one came to inquire about this bottle and what should be done with it, while the bottles brought by the others had already been dealt with before I arrived. Of course, by the time someone finally realized that we intended to open this bottle - which, thankfully, wasn't an eternity like what happened here - the wine had warmed up a little too much.

These days it's wonderful to find restaurants above a certain price point that doesn't force diners to take a tasting menu. Not only do we get to choose exactly what we want to eat, we are also able to decide on how much food we take in. I was happy to enjoy this freedome tonight, and we decided to share all the dishes.

Marinated yellow tail carpaccio: avocado and wasabi, lemon mustard - this was pretty nice. Each portion (we added an extra portion on top of the three that came standard) consisted of three slices of yellowtail, including from the belly and the back. While we were told about the wasabi with avocado, the more obvious kick came from the yuzukosho (柚子胡椒) on top. Pretty nice, and pretty, too.

We were next shown a big platter with all the vegetables going into our next dish, and all told there were 35 different types.

Seasonal organic vegetable smoke bagna càuda - I guess this is Jinbo Yoshinaga (神保佳永)'s version of gargouillou, and it has apparently become his signature.　Some of the vegetables have been fermented, some pickled, some deep-fried... The bagna càuda was made with smoked potatoes, and we also had perilla oil drizzled on top. Wai Gor and I shared a portion.

Caramelized onion tarte with baby anchovys: olive, caper, baby white anchovies from Cetara - the tarte pastry was very thin, as expected, but I didn't expect the soft, caramelized onion on top to be so thin, too... While the taste was OK, this was simply too dainty and not nearly satisfying enough.

Green asparagus and sea urchin aolio e olio spaghetti: seasonal sea urchin, 36-month Parmigiano-Reggiano - I really liked this. I thought the green asparagus - which came both as diced bits and purée - was tasty and worked very well with the spaghetti. I just wasn't sure that the sea urchin on top was necessary... but maybe it's because this was split 4 ways and I didn't get much sea urchin.

Sicilian Don Gambero red prawns linguine - prawn pasta has always been among my favorites, and there was never any question of ordering this. The gambero rosso di Mazarra del Varro from Don Gambero were very sweet, indeed. The sauce was tasty enough to warrant some extra licking of the lips.

But tonight, suddenly, Wai Gor and I remembered my old friend Harlan Goldstein. While this was tasty and I used to love Umberto Bombana's chitarra, the one I really miss is from Harlan. The bad boy's version was usually done with carabineros and a sauce made with baby shrimp (maybe sakura shrimp?) and sprinkled with bottarga di muggine for extra ooomph. It was MUCH, much richer in flavor, and I just salivate whenever I think about it. I miss him. Sometimes.

Guanciale flavored genovese: fusilloni rigati, homemade Italian basil and kale pesto, pistachio, 36-month Parmigiano-Reggiano - my eyes lit up at the sight of the word guanciale so this was one of my requests. I did enjoy the springy curls and the pesto, but I was a little disappointed in the amount of guanciale in the bowl... as this came in small chunks and only managed to add some highlights to the overall flavor of the dish. I really wanted more intensity there.

Costoletta alla milanese with preguggiun salad: Dutch veal, edible flowers salad with 15 years traditional balsamic vinegar - did this look beautiful or what?! I called shotgun on the rib bone, and really enjoyed gnawing the bits off around it.

The meat was really moist and tender, but it was the breading that really made the dish. I caught Ms. Hurricane repeatedly sticking her fork into the bits of breading that had fallen off and scattered on the plate... There was also a tomato "salsa" served on the side, which worked well.

Filetto di Sooliola al limone: wild caught Dover sole, beurre noisette, Sicilian lemon, heirloom potato - it's been a while since I last had Dover sole, and this was pretty good. Loved the taste of beurre noisette.

Amalfi lemon cannoli, mints trio gelato: Amalfi Coast lemon, bitter lemon puree, apple mint, spearmint, peppermint - not sure why this was presented with dry ice but... whatever. The gelato made with three types of mint came topped with some lemon cream frozen by liquid nitrogen.

The 'cannoli' itself was a little too refined and didn't have the classic taste or the texture. I did like the Amalfi lemon filling, and the lemon purée on the side.

Citrino tiramisu: Marscapone cream, coffee jelly, coffee gelato - this came with some coffee jelly at the bottom, and I did like the coffee gelato on the side. My only question was why the gelato had started melting when this was served to us.

We were allowed to bring a maximum of three bottles of wine, so that's what we did.

2015 Valentini Trebbiano d'Abruzzo - the wine was showing a nice and toasty fragrance, which also seemed a little fat. The palate was kinda rounded but still got a nice amount of acidity for balance. Drinking well.

2007 Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste - the nose was really fragrant and lovely, very floral, and nice and sweet like candy, but this was also a little sharp and alcoholic at first. The palate was showing ripe and stewed fruits that would be typical of a wine that is much older, and we've definitely got the acidity on the palate as one would expect. Pretty nice.

2008 Sassicaia - decanted for an hour before putting back in the bottle, then triple-decanted about 1½ hours after first opening. Started drinking nearly 3 hours after opening. This was smoky, minty, meaty, and really fragrant. Classic Sassicaia. Soft enough on the palate but still got the concentration.

This was a nice evening out for us. I thought the flavors overall were pretty good, although some dishes were perhaps 'a little too refined' for my taste - if there was such a thing. As the marketing material from the restaurant says... this isn't a 'fusion' of Italian and Japanese flavors - certainly not the way that an ex-favorite restaurant of mine does. I see a few other dishes on the menu that I'm curious about, and since we can order à la carte, I should find occasion to return.