Six p.m. heralds the end of another work day at Artless Craft Tea & Coffee, a boutique coffee shop in Tokyo's Nakameguro neighborhood. A soundtrack of chime-like tunes plays in the background as a barista clears the counter with the slow, practiced movements of a noh theater actor.
Moments later, Sergio Meza, the wisecracking Mexico-born chef who co-founded the Bogota restaurant Villanos en Bermudas, which currently stands at No. 15 on San Pellegrino's list of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, materializes behind the bar and hands me a sake glass filled to the brim with clear liquid.
"What is it?" I ask.