Tripe. The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives one definition as, «something that is worthless, unimportant, or of poor quality». This is the exact opposite of the food and wine offered at Trippa, a small wine bar in Nakano Sakaue named for the Italian word for tripe. Trippa is run by the Kotaki’s, a charming husband and wife team. Mr. Kotaki is actually a trained French chef and does all the cooking and selects the wines. Mrs. Kotaki serves the wine and food and makes sure the customers are taken care of. As the name suggests, the menu is centered around tripe dishes. Kotaki-san prepares the tripe in many different ways. When it’s available, I usually order the Italian tripe assortment stewed in tomato sauce. The last time I was there it was served with tagliatelle pasta, which made an excellent combination. For such a small restaurant(just 8 seats at the counter), the menu is quite extensive. The menu is divided into cold appetizers, warm appetizers, main dishes, and pastas. There are several choices in each section, plus a helpful ranking of the most popular items. The food is all really good and it’s not unusual to hear loud exclamations of «oishii» from the customers around you when they take their first bites of a dish. The other attraction of Trippa is the wine selection. Wines of all levels are represented by the bottle, plus the wines by the glass are constantly changing and of high quality. Bold red wines go perfectly with the tripe dishes, and on a recent visit I enjoyed glasses of Sagrantino di Montefalco by Goretti and a Boccadigabbia Rosso Piceno Montepulciano/Sangiovese blend. If you are in the mood for excellent tripe and wines, I highly recommend Trippa. A couple of caveats, though. First, all of the dishes are house-made and at times the service can be slow. This is explained on the menu and therefore Trippa is not the place to go if you are in a hurry. Second, the inside is small and if the restaurant is crowded, getting in and out can be an annoyance depending on where you are sitting.
