momento — Restaurant in Tokyo

Don't expect your typical Italian meal otherwise you will be disappointed. I think the best way to describe this is Italian inspired, french nouvelle cuisine meets Japan. Let me elaborate... Most of us Italians love big portions with few ingredients well mixed and combined. This place doesn't really do that but creates something I personally wouldn't go for but surprisingly very enjoyable. We were greeted by the sweetest server who made us feel welcomed straight away. As we were 3 people, unfortunately we couldn't go with the "a la carte menu" but after seeing the process that goes behind the scene, I understand why (more later). We chose the vegan, 4 courses degustation menu for 40.000 yen. We are a complicated family full of allergies (dairy, peanuts, lentils, sugar chickpeas, soy...) so before travelling to Japan we created a laminated piece of paper written in Japanese by a friend apologising for our dietary request but asking if it was possible to accommodate. The chef took about 10 minutes reading and going through his menu and ultimately came to us confirming he could. His process was pure art. I've never seen a small kitchen so organised. The chef is so focused and into his creation and as soon as he's done with a set of dishes (for a specific table), he passes the pots to the sweet lady in charge of cleaning and starts the following set. The care and attention he placed in each plate was admirable. The same can be said for the lady cleaning the pots. I don't know if she did it because of the allergies or it's her normal process (I think the latter) bit I've never clean any pot as thorough as she did. The pots were shining when she was done. I'm very happy we went there and even though I'm still craving a big plate of tomato pasta, it was a memorable experience. Again, don't come here if you are looking for a traditional...

A tiny lovely Italian restaurant with vegan options located very close to Kichijoji Station. The place is really small but it offer a bright upscale atmosphere with classical, but not heavy taste, furniture. Staff is obviously limited to 2 people and they are very quiete and discrete people yet friendly. The cuisine is very delicate but tasty, they try to bring out for you the natural taste of ingredients more than enrich flavours with heavy condiments. It results in a pleasant taste experience that is uncommon at usual italian restaurants. This is even more evident when you eat their sweets that you won't expect being too sweet and heavy but on contrary light and delicate. Result is you feel comfortably satisfied without feeling uncomfortably full. They also can prepare whole cakes upon reservation and I suggest you to order at least 1 or 2 sizes over your needs because you will end up eating bigger portion of their light and delicate cakes than you would usually do with other more heavy sweet common cakes. Each dish is carefully prepared, decorated, served and explained as an upscale restaurant does. You can feel the passion putted in it coming out from each dish in perfect Japanese omotenashi style. Prices are a bit on high side but you won't think they are overpriced due the location, service quality and...

My brother and I had a lovely lunch here on our last week in Japan. I’m vegan while my brother loves meat and they had great options for both of us! I had the fried Yuba dish which was delicious and unlike anything I’ve had before. My brother said his meal was one of the best he’d had in Japan. Both of our dishes were beautifully presented and just the right size. Very kind and helpful staff who spoke English. Cozy venue. Finished the meal off with an apricot tart which was vegan but even my brother couldn’t tell since it was so yummy. So happy to have such unique vegan options and will definitely be returning on my nectar...