Kitayama - Newport Beach, CA [Eating]
(Images for this review taken with my Canon PowerShot SD800is.)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Japanese society during the Edo period was rigidly striated into four impermeable classes. Merchants, because they produced no goods and did not serve the State, comprised the lowest officially recognized caste. To keep the merchant class in its place, the Tokugawa bakufu regulated what merchants could spend their money on. Displays of wealth in the form of lavish homes or personal adornment were strictly prohibited. Instead, the merchant class turned to other, less material ways to flaunt their success; food, sex, and entertainment. Centered in urban red light districts, the services and subculture that arose to support the hedonistic lifestyle of affluent merchants was described as Ukiyo, a "floating world" separate from the unyielding confines of the Pax Tokugawa.
Tucked away in an odd little fold of the border between Irvine and Newport Beach, Kitayama evokes storied descriptions of life in the floating world. The restaurant is a beautiful, labyrinthine sprawl surrounding a peaceful Japanese garden. Attentive, kimono-clad servers glide through the dimly lit halls, waiting on each table with polite efficiency.
Read the complete review, Kitayama - Newport Beach, CA [Eating], on Chubbypanda.com.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Japanese society during the Edo period was rigidly striated into four impermeable classes. Merchants, because they produced no goods and did not serve the State, comprised the lowest officially recognized caste. To keep the merchant class in its place, the Tokugawa bakufu regulated what merchants could spend their money on. Displays of wealth in the form of lavish homes or personal adornment were strictly prohibited. Instead, the merchant class turned to other, less material ways to flaunt their success; food, sex, and entertainment. Centered in urban red light districts, the services and subculture that arose to support the hedonistic lifestyle of affluent merchants was described as Ukiyo, a "floating world" separate from the unyielding confines of the Pax Tokugawa.
Tucked away in an odd little fold of the border between Irvine and Newport Beach, Kitayama evokes storied descriptions of life in the floating world. The restaurant is a beautiful, labyrinthine sprawl surrounding a peaceful Japanese garden. Attentive, kimono-clad servers glide through the dimly lit halls, waiting on each table with polite efficiency.
Read the complete review, Kitayama - Newport Beach, CA [Eating], on Chubbypanda.com.