A pair of ornamental cherry trees stand like attendants by a sturdy wooden gateway. A narrow flagstone path lined with bamboo and maples curves out of sight in the mid-distance. At one end you are on a nondescript backstreet in Akasaka; at the other lies Kyoto.
You have arrived at the Tokyo outpost of Kikunoi, one of the most illustrious of the exclusive ry¨tei restaurants in the ancient capital. Though the setting hardly matches that of the Kyoto original on the tranquil, leafy slopes of the Higashiyama district, nonetheless this is a memorable, magical approach to any meal.
Make your way down that lantern-lit tunnel of foliage and you find yourself outside a freestanding two-story wooden house, modern but evoking the traditional tea-ceremony architecture. Even with the soaring buildings on all sides, it feels like you have left the metropolis far behind.
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