The idea of upmarket yakitori -- presenting premium-quality charcoal-broiled chicken in suave settings, often with fine wine and other foreign influences -- is taken for granted in Tokyo these days. But nowhere else in the city is this venerable concept -- the skewering and grilling of fowl -- translated so dramatically and successfully into the present tense as at Izayoi.

It's not just the cool jazz that plays on the sound system or the youthful kitchen crew with their samue work clothes and indigo kerchiefs to cover their heads. Nor is it the minimalist aesthetic -- a striking monochrome roomscape in contemporary-casual dining-bar mode that is so spare and uncluttered it would feel aseptic were it not for the bright labels on the awamori bottles displayed along the counter and the rows of gently flickering oil lamps that cast warmth and life onto the end walls.

What makes Izayoi really stand out, though, is its food. The master of the house, Yukiyoshi Hara, is a kaiseki-trained chef who first established a name for himself at Konakara, a small izakaya in Tokyo's Otsuka that enjoyed almost cult status. Despite the obscure location, aficionados would make the trek to nether Toshima Ward to sample his creative washoku dishes and extensive jizake selection.