Omotesando's Anniversaire complex, which includes a bridal shop, restaurant, chapel, and perhaps the area's most popular café has somewhat of a split personality. Though located on prime people watching real estate, the café orients only two of its dozens of tables toward the main thoroughfare. The chapel offers marriage services but no religious ones. And the restaurant, which is literally split in two, attracts both dressed up couples out for a special night and locals who keep returning for the wonderful food served up in graceful surroundings.

The true attraction, though, is the wonderfully uncomplicated food. The ¥3,800 course menu, which includes a pasta or hors d'oeuvres dish as well as an entrée, dessert and coffee, is worth every yen. Deciding to sample, we selected the chef's appetizer plate (¥1,500 a la carte). 

Beautifully arranged on a shallow white dish, the selections were colorful bursts of shape and color. Shrimp and asparagus on a bed of potato was both gorgeous to behold, with the two pink shrimp nestled against each other and ringed by short vegetable spears, and delicious to taste, the snappy shrimp and asupara well complemented by the earthy potato. Likewise, thinly sliced salmon and tomato were enlivened by red onion, while scallop and cabbage also successfully paired disparate textures and flavors.

Eschewing the more complicated sounding pasta selections, we settled on the tomato and basil tagliatelle (¥1,500). We weren't prepared for this dish's simple perfection. The thick tomato base, lightly infused with a scent of basil, coated the flat pasta with a sauce of astonishing delectability. We were amazed-indeed, still are-that the simple and few ingredients yielded such a heart warmingly delightful dish.

Perfectly executed simplicity also describes the grilled chicken with vegetables, one of our two entrées (both ¥2,300). The okra, string beans, scallions, mushrooms, shimeji, zucchini, and thinly sliced pumpkin chips literally played a supporting role, with the meat delicately perched on top. Lightly grilled, the vegetables retained their distinct flavors. The chicken was also minimally cooked, perfectly juicy with crispy skin and tasting of fire, fowl and salt. Our second entrée, roast duckling with grape sauce, was another success, the duck heavy and slightly undercooked in the center, the skin crusted and perfectly salty.

Dessert, a well made creme brûlée with a surprise dollop of vanilla ice cream, came with satisfyingly strong coffee. As with the rest of our meal, it was served in a timely manner by the unobtrusive staff. And if the gratis cubes of delicious chocolate that came with the coffee seemed at odds with the rest of the meal, we reminded ourselves that, hey, this is Anniversaire after all.