Higashiya is always a favorite stop in Tokyo. This week Shinji Sugiyama and his lovely wife Asuka took me for breakfast at their location near Meguro.
I am fascinated that traditional Japanese style (either modernized or original) is becoming more and more popular inside Japan amongst hipper and trendier people.
My personal (and so-far uncorroborated theory) is that as the hunger that creative Japanese people have for things that are new, interesting, exotic and foreign, the farther away they are from their roots. I have been feeling for sometime that younger Japanese people have reached a point where they are disconnected enough from their past, to find it exotic enough to be become exiting.
Higashiya represents the best of this trend. Originally serving traditional Japanese sweets, beautifully presented, they are now serving entire meals.