First glance
March 2

After dropping off my bags at the apartment, I head over to see the restaurant with Michio, Hideo, and Yoshi. I am quite pleased to note that UST is a very short walk from my place, a real boon in a town where people think nothing of 1-2 hour train commutes.   No matter how much one has participated in the design of a project, poring over blueprints and drawings, or how keen one's mental image of a space might be, there is nothing to replace that first glance at the finished work. Absolutely thrilling, to say the least. I immediately think of the words Danny used to introduce The Union Square Cafe Cookbook, "Twenty Five minutes before the mahogany door to Union Square Cafe swung open for the very first dinner on October 21, 1985, I broke into sobbing tears …" The front door of Union Square Tokyo may slide rather than swing open, but I have the feeling just the same.