When meeting someone in a hotel lounge or other high-end coffee shop or cafe, you may be asked, "Would you like something to eat?" If it's obviously snack time, the answer would be sweets, but in these cases, it is usually assumed that a light meal is being served, and in that case, the most common thing to order is a "sandwich."

The other day, I had the opportunity to meet the teacher who had retired. He lives in Koishikawa, and when we arranged to meet near his home, he specified "Hamanoya Parlor" in Korakuen. "Hamanoya," a famous long-established coffee shop in Yurakucho founded in 1966, closed in 2011 when the owners retired. "Hamanoya Parlor" was born to carry on the taste of the shop, and moved to the Shin-Yurakucho Building, but when the building closed, it moved to Nihonbashi. It seems that the branch was also located in the Imperial Hotel, but it also closed when the building closed. The teacher, who is a fan of the Takarazuka Revue, often went to "Hamanoya Parlor," but he learned that a branch had recently opened near his home and often uses it.

The shop is located in a corner of the food and drink district above the station building, and it certainly has a small feel. "The shop at the Imperial Hotel was spacious," he said, "but our specialty here is sandwiches." Indeed, the snack menu is mainly sandwiches, with the rest being Neapolitan and doria. There are six types of sandwiches named after the fillings, and seven types of "special sandwiches." I was thinking of ordering the mysterious "special," but the teacher said, "We have half-and-half sandwiches, where you can choose two fillings." "Also, they usually serve the bread with the crust removed, but you can order it to be served as is." "And, and this is the most important part, they will toast the bread for you." "I recommend toasting it." "It's easy to eat, like finger food," he explained in rapid succession. "Egg" was written first, and the professor's tone made it seem like it couldn't go wrong, so I was thinking about deciding on the other half of the half and half, when he said, "I've decided on tuna," so I made a well-considered order of "egg and tuna." Another active professor who had arrived earlier also said, "I'm the same," so in the end, three people ordered the same thing.

The sandwich that came out was indeed small and stylish, and could be eaten in one bite. The egg was not a filling mixed with mayonnaise, but rather a fried egg sandwich with a thin piece of lettuce between it. Perhaps because it had been pressed, the moisture had evaporated and it was like paper. The tuna also had as little mayonnaise as possible, giving it a very tuna-like taste. It seemed that both sandwiches were carefully made to prevent the fillings from spilling out and losing their shape when eaten. Apparently the specialty of this restaurant is the fried egg sandwich, so I decided to start with the egg.

However, it turned out to be surprisingly difficult to eat. This is because the bread was not only toasted on the surface, but was pressed into a paper-like shape like the lettuce. Indeed, the bread was as thin as paper, so the sandwich went into my mouth easily. However, if I tried to eat the whole thing in one bite, my mouth would be full, so I tried to bite off about half of it, but the bread was as hard as dried squid and it was difficult to chew. When I tried to bite off the bread and chew it, the bread resisted and stuck to my mouth. I almost choked several times, and honestly, I felt nauseous. I probably have problems with my swallowing ability, but I don't like dry foods in my mouth and I find it painful to eat grains, so if I'm going to eat a baguette, I don't want to eat it unless it's covered in butter. The tuna didn't lose its shape because there was not much mayonnaise, but it was dry in my mouth. It's not a question of whether it was delicious or not, it's just painful to eat.

However, I suddenly realized that there was a sandwich made with toasted bread that was my favorite. It was the American Clubhouse Sandwich from Coffee Parlour Hilltop at the Hilltop Hotel, which has sadly closed down. When I was serialising a childcare magazine, the editorial production company I was in charge of was also in Jimbocho, and the hotel was right next to the university where I work, so this was a dish I always ordered when I was doing interviews at the Hilltop Hotel's parlour. Well, I didn't pay for it myself, but the other party recommended that I also have a light meal, so I ordered it, and it was quite delicious, so I always order the Clubhouse when I'm doing interviews. Thanks to that, I was able to order it for three years, which was a good number of times, instead of the usual one year.

Come to think of it, the Clubhouse bread was toasted as well, but it wasn't pressed like paper, so it wasn't difficult to chew. Of course, in the case of the Clubhouse, it was sandwiched between chicken, bacon, and fresh vegetables, so it was hard to eat because it didn't fit in your mouth, but that was what made it so delicious. Also, I think there were thin slices of tomato sandwiched in between, so the moisture seeped into the bread just right, and it didn't dry out in your mouth. I agree with people who can't stand the feeling of soggy bread, but if you get nauseous while eating it, it ruins everything, so I'm convinced that for me, "ease of eating" is not about size, but about how easy it is to swallow.

So, in conclusion, if I have a chance to go to "Hamanoya Parlour" next time, I will definitely get a sandwich again, so I think it would be fine to choose "egg and tuna" as the filling and choose to have the bread as it is, without toasting it. Of course, I would have to cut off the crust of the bread.

I would like to tell you about the delicious sandwiches I have encountered, but I have run out of space. I will save that for another time.

This month's recommended wine: "Is Nuits-Saint-Georges the savior of the Cote de Nuits? - Enjoy the essence of Pinot Noir -"

"Nuits-Saint-Georges Haut-Salos 2018 AC Nuits-Saint-Georges Domaine Bertrand et Axel Marchand de Gramont" 11,000 yen (excluding tax)

The rising price of wine is a headache for wine lovers, especially Burgundy, where the price of the latest vintage is 1.5 times what it was a few years ago, making it seem increasingly unaffordable.

When you think of Burgundy, you think of the Cote d'Or. In particular, people tend to want to drink wine from the northern Cote de Nuits, where red wine is the main focus. However, it seems that it is becoming difficult to buy even village wine for 10,000 yen.

So, you might be able to buy wines from Marsannay in the far north or Fixin just below it, but there are also great wines from Marsannay, such as the Pataille brothers, which are also quite expensive. Also, if you are going to spend that much, it might be better to look for a conscientious winemaker from Gevrey-Chambertin, which is a similar type of wine.

In that case, the only appellation that seems possible would be Nuits-Saint-Georges, the southernmost one. The "Nuits" in the Cote de Nuits is the Nuits of Nuits-Saint-Georges, and given its size, it is a representative wine of this region, alongside Gevrey-Chambertin and Vosne-Romanée.

However, there are no Grand Cru vineyards in Nuits-Saint-Georges. This is because the winemakers at the time of the designation of the vineyards did not want to increase the sense of discrimination, and so they refused to designate the vineyards as Grand Cru. Therefore, there are some Premier Cru vineyards that are equivalent to Grand Cru, and the most representative of these are "Les Saint-Georges" and "Les Vauclins". In addition, since 2007 , applications have been submitted to have the above two vineyards designated as Grand Cru, and finally Grand Cru may be born in Nuits-Saint-Georges.

So, for now, Nuits-Saint-Georges wines are more reasonably priced than other major Nuits appellations. So, what I would like to introduce to you today is the 2018 vintage from the Haut-Alpes vineyard, adjacent to Vosne-Romanée. The vineyard is made by Domaine Bertrand et Axel Marchand de Gramont. It is one of the three domaines that were inherited by Chantal Lescure, who was based in Nuits-Saint-Georges and owned a vast vineyard. Founded by Bertrand in 1986. His daughter Axel took over in 2004 and practices biodynamic farming. The average age of the vines in Haut-Alpes is 50 years. 100 % destemmed. Aged for 18 months in 20 % new oak and 2-3 year old oak. An excellent wine that combines the clean acidity of Nuits-Saint-Georges with the complex richness of Vosne-Romanée. The 2020 vintage is priced at 13,000 yen, so this 2018 vintage is a real bargain. Don't miss this opportunity to try it.

Biography
Osamu Seki

Born in Tokyo in 1961. Currently a part-time lecturer at Meiji University and other institutions. Specializes in contemporary French thought and cultural theory. Director of the Reefer Wine Association.
His books include "An Introduction to Beautiful Men" (Natsume Shobo) and "My Neighbor is Arashi-kun" (Cyzo), and his translations include "How Should We Read Foucault?" by Oksara (Shinsensha) and "Mr. Pydrow, What Use Is a Gastronomic Critic?" by Pydrowski (Shinsensha).
Seki Osamu FACE BOOK
Seki Osamu Official Website