Tokyo Food Page

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★Le Petit Tonneau/
Kudanshita: French
▼3239-6440
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Le Petit Tonneau is
a small neighborhood
bistro that wouldn't
be out of place on a
back street some-
where in Paris. The
food is excellent -
simple in concept
but skillfully exe-
cuted - and the wine
list is well-chosen,
reasonably priced
and fairly exten-
sive. Which makes it
all the more sur-
prising to find this
place in the middle
of Kudanshita, in an
unassuming business
district not other-
wise known for its
culinary offerings.

If you want to you
can think of Le
Petit Tonneau as a
wine bar - there are
more than twenty
different wines by
the glass, and a few
dozen more by the
bottle. Much of the
list is devoted to
wines from the Rous-
sillon region in the
southwest of France
(next to Languedoc),
wines not seen so
often in Tokyo res-
taurants. The menu
includes fairly
detailed descrip-
tions of each wine
in Japanese, and the
friendly, multi-
lingual waiters are
ready to offer sug-
gestions if you ask.
The restaurant im-
ports the wines
directly, which
keeps the prices
down - glasses aver-
age Y500-800, and
most bottles are
under Y6000.

The food menu is
short and simple -
bistro fare like
confit of duck and
lentil soup with
sausage, plus a
risotto, a spaghet-
ti, and a homemade
ravioli of the day.
The duck confit is
done to perfection
(with very crisp
skin and moist meat
that falls away from
the bone) and it's
served with world-
class fried potatoes
(soft enough to melt
in the mouth) and
sauteed onions.
There's a superb,
down-home-style
stewed lamb with
white beans that
goes very well with
the excellent Cotes
de Roussillon wine.
Even something as
simple as the endive
salad is prepared
lovingly, with bits
of herbs and pepper-
corns, crisp bacon
and good-quality
walnuts.

If you're in the
mood for something a
bit fancier you can
opt for the Special
Menu of Phillippe
Batton (you may
recognize his name
from Le Petit Bedon
in Daikanyama, where
he ran the kitchen
before moving here
in late 2001). It
includes five signa-
ture dishes of Chef
Batton (items like
foie gras with dai-
kon in an orange and
five-spice sauce),
plus dessert, and
it's a bargain at
only Y6000. Other-
wise, two courses
(appetizer plus
main) are Y2500,
four courses are
Y3800, and every-
thing is available a
la carte, including
the chef's specials.
A selection of cal-
vados, brandy and
eaux de vie is
served after dinner,
and the cheese plat-
ter is small but
first-rate.

Tables here are
rather closely
packed, bistro-style
(this isn't the
place for a high-
powered business
dinner), and reser-
vations are recom-
mended. In the morn-
ings there's full
breakfast service
from 8am (another
Tokyo rarity), with
eggs and bacon,
cereal and crois-
sants, yogurt and
fresh fruit juices.

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◎Kudan-Kita 1-10-2.
[From Kudanshita
station walk north
toward the Grand
Palace Hotel, and
turn right on the
side street just
before you reach the
Lawson's across from
the hotel; Le Petit
Tonneau will be
immediately on your
left.]
◎Open 8am-10:30pm
(LO). Closed
Sundays.

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