There are many -- the Food File included -- who believe that Kazuhiko Kinoshita produces the finest, value-for-money French food in all of Tokyo, and probably the whole of Japan. So how can it be that he and his bistro-style restaurant remain so little spoken about by the general populace, or at least those who pride themselves on eating well?

In part we can blame the less-than-sexy location and unpretentious furnishings. And partly it's because Kinoshita is a modest man, who does not play the mass-media game. But the underlying truth is there's been a conspiracy of silence.

This is quite understandable. His fans (especially those for whom this is their neighborhood dining spot) have done all they can to keep Kinoshita's existence a secret. But, even so, word did get out, and for a couple of years it was about as hard to snare a table there as to arrange a private audience with the Pope.