yoshihiro narisawa's idea of a vacation is opening a domestic ingredient-driven kitchen car (= food truck) at tokyo midtown's winter outdoor ice rink. all meals conform to one format—a hefty soup and a sandwich—but each day you can choose from three soups and three sandwiches highlighting different ingredients sourced from around japan, plus some daily specials and a small but nice sake selection. for sandwich perfection, bread of the correct texture is paramount. their very good bread, made from 18 seeds and grains including wheat and rice and mostly milled but with some fully hydrated whole pieces, is tender-crusted and -crumbed and made even better by being toasted on binchotan. this particular sandwich was stuffed (not over- or under-stuffed) with salad leaves dressed in rice vinegar and olive oil, carelessly shredded and parcooked carrot, thin shavings of akita pork shoulder marinated in salted koji and finished on binchotan, with a peanut and miso sauce.
