Principio

Having honed his craft at Shinagawa's renowned Aroma Classico, chef Teruhito Negishi opened this Azabu-Juban gem in 2012 and quickly found himself a very busy man. Interpreting the theories of Italian cooking rather liberally, he crafts challenging, innovative cuisine centred around supremely juicy charcoal-grilled meat and a carefully curated list of Italian wines. Principio is a classy but very reasonably priced place that also makes for a great after-dinner wine bar. It's one of our favourite Italian joints in Azabu, and that's saying quite a bit – considering the cutthroat competition.