Winter is over, and in any normal year that would be cause for celebration. But in this COVID-19 spring, nothing is normal: Tokyo’s streets are empty, especially in the evening — and so are restaurants across the city.
Many are feeling the pinch so badly they’ve gone into voluntary lockdown, closing totally for the first two weeks of this month — though it may turn out to be for longer. Others are hanging in there as best they can, trying to get by offering lunch boxes or take-out, and to minimize nonessential human contact.
Self-isolating doesn’t have to mean you can’t eat well. It also doesn’t mean you can’t eat food prepared by your favorite restaurants. In fact, if we want to see those restaurants back in action once the worst is over, it is essential that we keep up our patronage, to carry them through this crunch time.
For the next few weeks, Tokyo Food File will be spotlighting some of the best alternatives to dining out, with a special focus this month on plant-forward eating. Here are a few places that are not necessarily purely vegan or vegetarian in their orientation, but who do cater to all.
Count the brilliant Los Tacos Azules in Sangenjaya among them. Chef Marco Garcia has had to halt his regular dinner service as well as his “Asa-taco†weekend brunches. For obvious reasons, tacos need to be eaten as soon as they’re made, but Garcia has been developing what he calls temaki (“hand-rolledâ€) tacos based on the principle of temaki sushi rolls.
