Rugged Old Salt

Ettinger Tote

New at The Armoury

Ready for the weekend

Armoury Denim ‘Mechanic’ in selvedge chambray

Armoury Denim ‘Westerner’ in left hand selvedge denim

Simonnot Godard suede belt with Parisian cast brass buckle

The Real McCoys Bandana in cotton

Gilt

Orazio Luciano for Summer

The Armoury White Denims ‘Hi-Top’

Vegas

Imaizumi San and Sushi Sora

Joy in a craft, in a trade, turns it in to art. Tailors, shoe makers, yes, but in all things. A beautifully sharpened knife is art, a perfectly mixed drink is art. Passion and enthusiasm transform it from mundane to extraordinary.

I have been fortunate to meet many such artisans in my life, from shoe shines to pressed linen, and conversations with these artists are usually the most interesting I have.

Chef Yuji Imaizumi of Sushi Sora is just like that. He has a humility that belies his talent, and in a perfectly spare room on the 38th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, he quietly and unassumingly creates art.

I was lucky enough to stay at the Mandarin Tokyo a few weeks back, the first time I had stayed there in Tokyo. Not the last, I hope. I found myself at dinner one evening at Sushi Sora, and my vocabulary for fish was turned on it’s head. Things I normally hate - like Uni - I loved, and things I normally loved seemed completely new.

Imaizumi San remained friendly and open every dish. He explained each with an air of a new convert reveling in details, never grandiose or intimidating, it felt that I was being led through an extraordinary meal by an old friend.

I haven’t yet booked my next trip to Tokyo. There is so much of the world I want to see, and so little time or money to do it with. But I will sit down to sushi with Imaizumi San again one day.

Shell

Lapels - JEG

Lapels - EAN