When people think of Spanish cuisine, they usually think of pintxos and paella. Anyone who also thinks of cava and txakoli is probably quite the Spanish food connoisseur.
Good news for such connoisseurs is the opening of "KONEXIOA" in Meguro on April 3rd. This is truly a place where you can enjoy Spanish cuisine and alcohol in the finest way. The name of the restaurant apparently means "to connect" in Basque.
They chose the name of the restaurant with the hope that it would be a place where people can connect through Spanish food culture.
The high ceilings and spacious atmosphere create a calming and relaxing environment.
A modern, two-story detached house restaurant
The shop is located in a quiet area of Meguro. Just inside the gate, you are greeted by an olive tree, said to have been brought from Spain and estimated to be about 200 years old. It is truly majestic. Beyond that stands a sleek, modern building with glass walls. Isn't it quite luxurious to have a two-story detached house these days?
The first floor is the main dining area with a chef's counter, but thanks to the high ceilings and very large windows, sunlight streams in during the day, and at night the garden lamps twinkle like a starry sky, making it feel as if you're not indoors. There is also a private room on the second floor that can accommodate up to eight people.
The head chef is Remi Hachiya. She started her career in a French restaurant and honed her skills in Italian and Spanish restaurants. In 2017, she opened her own Spanish restaurant, "Txiki Plaka," in Shinbashi, and it was selected as a Bib Gourmand from 2019 to 22. She is truly a chef with a lot of experience.
The five types of pintxos all have different ingredients and seasonings, just like a Spanish bar.
Cava with pintxos
As for the food, we were first served a platter of five different pintxos.
On this day, the dishes included cherry salmon with prosciutto and artichoke, sea urchin and bell pepper, firefly squid and salmon roe, arugula and tomato, and mussels with onion and green pepper.
Not only are they visually appealing, but the flavors truly reflect the ingredients themselves, with a rich variety of seasonings for each dish, which really lifts your spirits. In fact, when visiting pintxos bars before dinner in places like San Sebastian, Spain, it's common to pick up a dish and then gulp down some cava.
The Cava "Ferret Guasque" that day had a strong citrus flavor, a gentle effervescence, and a long-lasting finish, making it a perfect match for all the pintxos.
Chef Hachiya makes a trip to Spain every year, diligently seeking inspiration from various parts of the country, including the Basque Country and Mallorca.
While they have an abundance of Spanish alcoholic beverages such as Cava and Txakoli, they also focus on Japanese alcoholic drinks. They even offer original cocktails like the Andalusian Highball made with dry sherry, so there's no shortage of things to enjoy about the drinks.
"Shark fin and black abalone mushroom pil pil." The emulsified cream is delicious.
The cuisine embodies the coexistence of delicacy and dynamism.
While lunch is set courses only, I appreciate that they offer both set courses and à la carte options for dinner.
The second dish of the day was particularly memorable: "Shark fin and black abalone mushroom pil pil." Normally, pil pil is made with braised cod, but the use of shark fin instead showed great ingenuity. It was simmered with garlic and olive oil until emulsified, resulting in a very smooth finish.
The next dish after the Spanish mackerel, the "Hokkaido Beef Sirloin," was also superb. It was Yakumo beef from Hokkaido, prepared by Mr. Shinbo of "Sakaeya." Although it was sirloin, it had very little marbling, giving it a texture closer to fillet, and the cooking was superb. Because the ingredients were so good, the simple seasoning of just rock salt, olive oil, and black pepper was very Spanish.
French and Chinese cuisine can sometimes be over-processed, obscuring the natural flavors of the ingredients, but Spanish cuisine, like Japanese and Italian food, is a cuisine that truly respects its ingredients. Chef Hachiya's creations offer both delicacy and the dynamism of Spanish cuisine. It is something that is very familiar to the Japanese palate.
The aged sirloin prepared by "Sakaeya" is like a fillet.
We offer several types of paella.
The "Sakura Shrimp Paella" (pictured at the beginning), served as the final dish, was a delightful surprise. Rice-loving Japanese people are sure to be excited just by hearing the word "paella." On this particular day, the delicious flavor of sakura shrimp had permeated every single grain of domestically produced rice in the paella. It's also nice that there are several ingredients available for lunch, including octopus and a mixed paella.
As mentioned at the beginning, the restaurant's name, "KONEXIOA," means connection. This connection also connects the restaurant with producers. One such producer is "Sakaeya" in Shiga Prefecture, which provides some of the finest meat in Japan. This meat is difficult to obtain.
Chef Hachiya proudly states, "I love aged meat, and that's how I found Sakaeya. Thanks to them, the beef, pork, and lamb we serve at our restaurant are all meats that I can recommend with confidence."
The vegetables are also very delicious, and apparently they are delivered from "Takei Farm" in Chiba Prefecture. Western varieties and micro herbs, in particular, come from this farm.
Soon, Chef Hachiya's signature wood-fired cooking dishes will also be on the menu. This makes us even more excited to see how the meat and fish dishes turn out.
KONEXIOA
Address: 2-23-3 Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
TEL：03-6812-3130
ランチ：12:00～15:00（14:00L.O.）、ディナー：17:30～22:30（21：30L.O.）
Closed: Sundays and Mondays
Text by Toshizumi Ishibashi
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Toshizumi Ishibashi
Former editor-in-chief of "Claire Traveler" and "Claire."
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