01Kentaro Kobayashi at La Bisboccia
02Head chef Giovanni Cenni in the kitchen
03Grappa selection
04A cook at work
05Porcini and clam pasta
06Grilled lamb chops
07Classic Italian dishes ready to be served
08Courgette flower fritters with mozzarella
TV chef Kentaro Kobayashi is known for no-nonsense dishes and his show teaching men how to cook. Over a meal at his favourite Italian restaurant, he talks about his accidental route into becoming a chef.
Kentaro Kobayashi is one of Japan’s best-known TV chefs. He has his own show on TV Tokyo, Danshi Gohan (Men’s Cooking), which he co-hosts with pop star and self-proclaimed cooking novice, Taichi Kokubun. Kobayashi is also a prolific author of cookery books, specialising in easy to prepare meals that even the most inexperienced cook can attempt, such as Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love. He writes a weekly recipe column for the Chunichi Newspaper and another for the Sankei Express called “Kentaro’s Hitosara Shobu” or “Kentaro’s One plate challenge”. He is also an illustrator and member of the band Skunk Kyodai.
An old-school Italian restaurant, La Bisboccia opened in Tokyo’s Hiroo district in 1993. It’s always packed and photos of famous patrons line the wall. The day’s cuts of meat and fresh fish are wheeled to the table on a trolley. Florentine head chef Giovanni Cenni cooks central Italian recipes with the odd speciality.
Hiroo SK Building 1F, 2-36-13 Ebisu Shibuya-ku, + 81 (0)3 3449 1470
Courgette flower fritters with mozzarella
Tuna carpaccio
Grilled lamb chops
Radicchio with anchovy sauce
Summer porcini and clam pasta
Beef ravioli with butter sauce
Dessert selection plate
Surgiva sparkling water
Espresso
4 courgette flowers
120g mozzarella
Anchovies, minced
For the batter (makes 4 fritters): 100g plain flour, 1g sugar, 1g salt, 1-2g yeast, 100ml water
Vegetable oil (not olive oil as this is too heavy)
Start by making the batter. Mix flour, sugar and salt together. In another bowl pour water on yeast, add the flour mix and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
Take the pistils out from inside the courgette flowers.
For each flower you will need a spoonful of minced anchovies and 30g of mozzarella roughly mixed together. Use this to stuff into the flowers.
Close the flower and dip it into the batter.
Deep fry in oil at 170C for 4 minutes.
Issue 38
Retiree Tateo Shimizu chose Barcelona as the perfect city to set up an authentic Japanese tofu shop.
Issue 24
Frédéric Malle is a perfumier who knows his croissants, which is why he chose the Café de Flore in Paris – the hang-out of French philosophers in years gone by – for his ‘last meal’. He owns three shops in Paris and his…
Issue 39
From the restaurant scene to what we’re pouring ourselves for breakfast and cooking up in our kitchens, we bring you four trends that are changing the business of what we eat and drink.
Issue 31
The almighty Master Shibatayama, a former Grand Champion sumo wrestler, chooses a traditional Japanese restaurant in Shinjuku for his Last Meal. He runs a sumo school in Tokyo and is the author of several books on regional…
Issue 11
When Tokyo-based design guru Kenya Hara is asked to create graphics, he usually ends up advising a company on its entire aesthetic direction. This is how he became design adviser to no-label Muji. As well as generating…
Issue 41
Finalist in the Nariz de Oro sommelier competition, San Sebastián-based Dani Corman is one of Spain’s finest noses. Local and Michelin-starred restaurants call upon his skills when they draw up their wine lists and order…
Issue 55
Liveable cities are those that know the value of a quality nightlife. And that does not mean something that closes at 23.00. We tracked down the most welcoming establishments for a good drink at 01.00 in the morning.
Issue 32
Coffee is a way of life for New Zealanders and there are no finer connoisseurs than the guys at Coffee Supreme. The company’s Al Keating gives Monocle a food-and-drink tour of his Ponsonby neighbourhood.
Issue 63
Make your workspace orderly, your skin healthy and your drinks cupboard inviting with this month's line-up of *Monocle*'s favourite new products.
Issue 61
A new food hall in an old ironworks is helping change the face of both the docklands and the city’s food scene.
Issue 44
Renowned ceramic artist Edmund de Waal chooses an Italian restaurant in London’s Soho neighbourhood for his ‘last meal’. He’s fascinated by the visual experience of eating and at his alloted restaurant the food comes tapas…
Issue 7
Bassam Ghraoui and his workers defy the Syrian heat to produce exquisitely packaged, award-winning chocolates and fondants. We join them to find out why, for Ghraoui, the future is orange.
0:00:00 0:01:00