Enough already with the hype and chatter about Michelin stars. Many of Food File's favorite chefs are those who fly below the radar of that most self-promoting of gourmet guides, shunning the limelight and just getting on with the business of putting fine food on tables — exactly the way chef Katsuki Mori does at Esperia.

Until a couple of years ago, Mori was not so much in the shadows as off the map altogether. Not only was his first incarnation of Esperia sited in untrod, unlovely Akebonobashi, it was housed inside a converted diner with about as much atmosphere as a Denny's. And yet word spread and the punters came, drawn as much by the down-to-earth feel of the place as by Mori's accomplished, individual take on classic North Italian cucina. To find such inventive food in such uncompromising surroundings was recompense enough.

Even after making his long-awaited move to the far more upmarket, accessible setting of Nishi-Azabu, Mori has kept that personal, idiosyncratic touch that won him his loyal customer base. The three-year-old Esperia now occupies a distinctive timber-fronted house on a quiet residential side street, well away from the main drag.