Special people deserve special occasions. But finding exactly the right place for that celebratory dinner is easier said than done -- especially when your criteria are as stringent as ours.
First and most important, the food has to be sensuous -- that means French or Italian -- and matched with good wine. It must be inventive but not self-consciously so. We want flawless, assured technique, not self-indulgent pyrotechnics.
Location is important. We like seclusion, a bit of exclusivity even, but nothing so remote we can't get a taxi when we want to head home. It should be somewhere with a good buzz without being overly trendy, stylish and polished without being too formal, with service that's professional, not slick (always a bugbear for us in Tokyo).