Japan Eats, Part I: Savoy Pizza

Seared sushi-grade tuna atop one fantastic pizza at Savoy in Tokyo.
Seared sushi-grade tuna atop one fantastic pizza at Savoy in Tokyo.

Tokyo, JAPAN — I just spent two weeks in Japan, my first time there, in what can only be described as an eating adventure of a lifetime.

Scan my Instagram or Facebook pages, and you’ll get a taste through photos and words of all the fine tempura, sushi, tonkatsu, ramen, pastries, and other specialties I thoroughly enjoyed at a pittance, given the very favorable exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the Japanese yen. Today and Friday, I’ll spotlight two very different restaurants worthy of particular mention.

Though I did online research, and solicited recommendations from friends and chefs who travel to Japan regularly, I don’t think it’s possible to go wrong eating pretty much anywhere in Japan, even if all you do is wing it when you’re there.

Head here when you want to try pizza in Japan.
Head here when you want to try pizza in Japan.

Even eating tiramisu or flan or crustless egg salad sandwiches from a convenience store there is a revelation. Each of those items is less than $2 U.S. at a 7-Eleven or other Japanese convenience store — and the quality just phenomenal.

A Bay Area chef once told me he had the best cup of coffee of his life in Japan, which initially surprised me. But then it all made sense. The Japanese are masters of detail and astute students of any type of artisanal craft.

So, it’s no surprise that I ended up eating a mind-blowing pizza in Tokyo.

Savoy has several locations now, but the one in Azabu-Juban, a district of Minato in central Tokyo is one of the first ones opened.

You'll be mesmerized watching the dough mounds formed swiftly and gracefully into pizzas.
You’ll be mesmerized watching the dough mounds formed swiftly and gracefully into pizzas.

Take a seat at the counter for the best seat in the house of the hulking black drum of a pizza oven that looks like Darth Vader’s water tank.

Yuki Takahashi getting a pizza ready for the oven.
Yusei Takahashi getting a pizza ready for the oven.
Manning the pizza oven.
Manning the pizza oven.

The menu is concise, too, with a short list of appetizers, and five pizzas to choose from.

The insalata verde (770 yen or $5.06 U.S.) is a bright, refreshing way to tide yourself over until your pizzas are ready with its pile of crisp greens in a zingy vinaigrette.

A lively green salad to start.
A lively green salad to start.

We had the perfect view to watch pizzaiolo Yusei Takahashi take rounds of pillowy dough, and flatten, spin, and rim each one in what can only be described as fast-paced, poetry in motion.

The pizzas are individual-sized. My husband chose the Margherita (1,980 yen or $13 U.S.), which arrived with puddles of gooey mozzarella, sweet-tangy tomato sauce, and leaves of fresh basil.

This is Tokyo-style pizza, modeled after Italian Neapolitan, but with Japanese flair. So, the crust is thin, soft, tender, slightly chewy, and with the wonderful developed flavor from a 24-hour ferment.

A beautiful Margherita.
A beautiful Margherita.

I went with the novel tuna pizza (3,630 yen or $23.84) that was featured on David Chang’s “Ugly Delicious” on Netflix.

It sports sushi-grade Pacific Bluefin tuna sourced from Yamayuki, a specialty tuna broker in Japan. A mound of raw tuna goes atop the cheese, then into the oven. When it emerges, the pizzaiolo flattens the round of tuna to reveal parts that are cooked and parts that are still raw. A crock of wasabi gets delivered with the pizza. Dab on a little bit here and there, and dig in.

Wasabi to complete the tuna pizza.
Wasabi to complete the tuna pizza.

This pizza is flat-out astounding. It’s like pizza meets the best seared tuna carpaccio. Italians may scoff at fish with cheese. But the cheese adds another layer of lushness to the rich, meaty, and briny taste of the tuna. The wasabi is a natural with the tuna yet also marries exceedingly well with the cheese, adding a pop of nasal heat to help to cut through its fattiness.

I only wish a restaurant in the Bay Area would replicate it, as I could happily eat this pizza regularly.

Coming Friday: Japan Eats, Part II

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