The book seems to be based on the untenable premise that Shunju, a not very good chain of izakayas, are some of Tokyo's finest restaurants. This is just not true and though I live in Japan and am blissfully ignorant of the hype surrounding Charlie Trotter, the man has revealed himself as either shameless, or an ignoramus in an embarrassing introduction in which he claims Shinju has launched a culinary revolution in Japan--trust me it is not even on the radar here. The food at these places is not very good and the book is very badly written and edited, but it must be said that the restaurants and this book are very well designed and photographer Kawana has taken some excellent photos.