It's been a long countdown, but finally spring has liftoff. The buds and leaves are out, and so are those all-important cherry blossoms. And there is no finer way of appreciating them than from a table with a good menu and a choice vantage point. Time for lunch at Kita-Kamakura En.

The setting of this Michelin-starred restaurant is very easy on the eye. The dining room overlooks an ancient pond at the entrance to one of the most venerable Zen temples in all of eastern Japan. A stand of mighty cryptomeria cedars screens off the nearest road. And, perfectly positioned in front, a couple of exquisite Somei-Yoshino-zakura, the most spectacular of all the cherry trees, droop their branches over the water.

If it doesn't sound much like central Tokyo, that's because it's not. You are well out of the city, in among the wooded hills, leafy alleys and incense-wafting temples of Kita-Kamakura. You won't be alone, though, least of all on a weekend, when tourist hordes swarm the area. But once you've climbed En's steep staircase and ensconced yourself in the quiet of its tranquil second-floor dining room, the crowds seem far away.