東京のCoffee – Chapter 1: Bar Del Sole
Posted by: Mattt Thompson on: August 6, 2009
Bitter is often the divide between coffee-drinkers and tea-drinkers. As if an entire life philosophy could be laced throughout the sometimes-hot / sometimes-iced liquid in flavorful, contemplative veins.
But in the offices of Cerego Japan, the rinds have settled and the leaves have fallen. Our passions have been all but extinguished. A cold war had made stale our ambitions, allowing us to settle for the pernicious convenience of vending machines.
At this, my friend and colleague, Gee, said “Enough. Let us drink coffee.”
And so we did. And we never looked back.
Our Virgil through the Tokyo café scene is a New York Times article. Within it lies caffeinated gems of our fresh-brewed salvation. 4 tiny operations: strewn across the greater metropolitan area—Hiroo, Roppongi, Akasaka, and Ginza.
Armed with our Suica™ Cards and an appetite for espresso, we set off on our journey.
Bar Del Sole
Our first leg took us to nearby Roppongi Hills, in search of a particular Italian bistro. Three blocks from the Hibiya Line station and we’re wandering a quiet street lined with buildings of vaguely Moorish influence. A quick GPS check on Gee’s iPhone and we find the place—Bar Del Sole.
Writing this now from the air-conditioned offices of smart.fm, I have until now been remiss in omitting one very prescient detail at the time of our journey: it was hot. It was a sticky, swampy heat. It was the kind of heat one might describe with alliteration. Certainly not coffee-drinking weather. But yet we pressed on—for coffee lovers everywhere.
Anyway, we get inside and are immediately treated to the cool embrace of an array of caned ceiling fans and ambient bossa nova. We were seated and handed the menu; we had little need of it, though, as we sought to emulate our news-clipping guide. I ordered the macchiato and Gee the cappuccino. The waitress smiled, took our menus and relayed our orders to the barista.
5 minutes later, we were greeted by this jovial character:
"Cat"-uccino
“Cat-uccino” the waitress quipped. The barista at the counter blushed and smiled with a small bow in acknowledgement. I immediately whipped out my trusty 40D and started snapping away.
If I might break the 4th wall for just a moment: We are nearing the culmination of any piece of food journalism—the money shot of sorts. Through no more than literary coercion of a captive imagination, the writer is tasked with re-creating the phenomenological experience. Meditating on the experience is akin to the sort of dialog between Bishop Berkley and Bertrand Russell on the matter of subjective idealism. But I digress…
So here it goes:
Il Macchiato – Though dwarfed by its feline compatriot in size, it more than made up for itself in its complexity and richness. Lifting the tiny cup to my mouth, I watched as layers of milk and espresso interacted with each other at various phases and temperatures—each layer revealing its secrets in chalky cross-sections. The first sip was a sort of moment of decision. My mouth was first awash with the heat of the thick concoction, but this heat was subsumed by a bitter and then dark flavor. The second sip added further complexity, as the flavors turned more colorful—the bitter richness replaced with a faint earthy, vanilla cast.
Il Cappuccino – [note: this section of the post is authored by Gee] The cappuccino at Bar Del Sole exhibited a characteristic that I find all too often with cappuccinos I’ve had around the world: it was about 10° too cold. I’ve never quite gotten to the bottom of this, but perhaps it’s a result of the arduous multi-step process including the making of the espresso itself, the steaming of the milk, and in this case, the elaborate design of the ねこ graphic. There are many things I can appreciate lukewarm-bordering-on-cold (pizza and beer come to mind), but coffee really isn’t one of them. The presentation was fantastic and the taste of the coffee was actually great, but next time I’ll head for the macchiato.
Fulfilled, we exited into the summer heat, off to new adventures and culinary possibilities. Next stop: Ginza.
To Be Continued…
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