Uzuki

Step in off Guernsey Street and the room opens up like a small cathedral — high ceilings and a calm open kitchen where chef Shuichi Kotani, a soba maker for more than two decades, works the buckwheat. Uzuki makes 100 percent buckwheat soba, and treats the grain as the whole point.

Order the duck shio soba, or go for the prix fixe to see buckwheat in several forms — the kitchen makes buckwheat tofu and ice cream as well. Kake-style bowls, with the noodles and broth served together, are the gentle introduction.