Zetton (Hiroo, Tokyo)

The unassuming outward appearance of Zetton betrays the coziness of its interior and the deliciousness of its offerings. Located near the corner of Komazawa-dori and Meiji-dori in Hiroo, this venue by a Nagoya-based restaurant design group (which operates some 20+ restaurants and a couple of bars in both Nagoya and Tokyo) is quite busy during lunch hours. While Nagoyan-cuisine must have had some outlets somewhere in the city, apparently Zetton seems to popularize this cuisine even more by opening this restaurant back in 2001 (the first Zetton restaurant opened in 1995 in Nagoya).

There is al-fresco dining (two tables plus a plastic-covered love seat); there is even a pole to tie your dog's leash. (I forgot to ask if dogs were welcome at the al-fresco table.) Upon entering the indoor dining, to your left is a sunken area with four tables for two. To your right, another sunken area with two tables for up to four people, above which is

Pourcel Café & Bistro (Hiroo, Tokyo)

The former Café des Pres On Gaien-nishi-dori at the mouth of the Hiroo Garden Hills complex closed at the end 2006. The café, owned by the Francophile Hiramatsu group, reopens today, April 10, 2007, under a new name (Pourcel), a sleek decor (yawn . . . ), and black-uniformed staff members (following l'atelier de Joël Robuchon?). Gone is the pseudo-feeling of sitting in a French café (the old Café des Pres employed the use of chairs normally used in Parisian cafés, the two-toned woven rattan-resembling plastic chairs).

Instead of one venue, you now find two: a café on the ground floor and a bistro in the lower level (basement level). The strip of tables and chairs that normally occupy the