Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009

Photos Courtesy of Carmine Omotesando Stand

Part mama’s kitchen, part chrome-and-glass chic, Carmine Omotesando Stand is wholly laidback. Located down a narrow side street off the main drag in Harajuku, the bar offers a peaceful take on the nearby consumer madness. Seats on the terrace are ideal in the spring and autumn, while retiring indoors is your best option during the other seasons. Not that this interferes with the people-watching, as there are counters by the windows where both beers and elbows can be propped.

It’s been more than two decades since native Florentine Carmine Cozzolino became one of the first Italian chefs to open a restaurant in Tokyo. Of the five outlets he now operates around the city, Omotesando Stand best captures the essence of an unpretentious yet atmospheric Italian bar. Three high tables with stools occupy one side of the room, with the remaining seats clustered around the wooden bar, overlooking the chefs as they go about their work. Pots and pans hang from the ceiling; the red coffee machine is the authentic imported version.

The menu for both food and drinks is neither vast nor particularly adventurous—but what it does, it does well. Our French friends may sniff at Italian wines, but the Tavola Toscano Blanco (¥450 for a glass, ¥2,100 for a bottle) was refreshing and fruity, while the Bolla Soave Classico (¥650/¥3,200) slipped down very smoothly indeed. The bar also has a couple of reds—the Tavola Toscano Rosso is a snip at ¥380 a glass—and the homemade sangria, though a bit of an incongruous addition, is hard to resist at ¥500. The selection of bottled beers, meanwhile, is limited to three—all of which cost ¥700 and none of which hail from Italy. Any chance of a Birra Moretti or a Peroni in the future?

The other side of the menu has dishes that sit well with the drinks. The chef’s special salad (¥600) is deliciously heavy on the olives and olive oil, the latter cropping up again in the insalata caprese (¥500). Pork paté (¥600) is a pleasant surprise on a Tokyo menu, while the bar prides itself on its stewed beef motsu in tomato sauce (¥450).

Nibbles such as sautéed asparagus (¥400) and fried chicken (¥600) complement the drinks nicely, as do the distinctly un-Italian edamame (¥300) and pickled cucumber (¥300). A full-on pasta-of-the-day plate—like spaghetti with clam and tomato sauce—costs a reasonable ¥980, but this seems to miss the point of the bar. We’d much prefer a selection of small dishes and as many olives as we can possibly eat—followed by the pumpkin pudding (¥400), of course.