Dinner at Les Cristallines 24th February 2010, 18:30 to 21:00 Les Cristallines, 5-4-30 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
The C&O Society's main event of February was a dinner at Les Cristallines, attended by 28 members and 5 guests.
Les Cristallines 2010-02-24 Image 1
Les Cristallines is a charming French restaurant located in Minami Aoyama, around 5 minutes' walk from Omote-Sando Station. Its secluded location in a small side street made it something of a challenge to find, but as we arrived and greetings were exchanged it was clear that the restaurant was worth searching for. Separated from the busy streets of Tokyo by just a few dozen metres was a quiet, cosy atmosphere that couldn't have been more conducive to friendly conversation.
Les Cristallines 2010-02-24 Image 2 As we sat down to aperitifs, the Maitre d', Jean-Luc Bauer, introduced our chef. Accompanied by generous amounts of wine, our meal was presented on a succession of translucent crystal plates, which looked particularly stunning when lit from below by lights cleverly concealed within our tables. During the course of the meal we were introduced to four new members of the society: Yushi Inaba (St John's, Cambridge), Miguel Pokepovic (Lincoln, Oxford), Matilda Ruffle (Brasenose, Oxford) and Maki Terao (St Hilda's and Christ Church, Oxford). Also in attendance as overseas visitors were Laurent Bonnaud (St Antony's, Oxford) and Andreas Demetriades (Trinity, Cambridge).

After we finished our main course of gibier en croute, the order was given to stand and change seats, the better to socialise. Many of us found opportunities to meet and talk with the new members, and as dessert and coffee were served the atmosphere became even more informal, with several people moving around between tables to chat. Although the dinner nominally ended at 9pm, many stayed to enjoy the conversation until well after 10.
Les Cristallines 2010-02-24 Image 3
In the end a delicious meal and an enjoyable evening were had by all, and our thanks are extended to the secretaries for organising yet another successful meeting.

Kiera McNeice, Kings College Cambridge 2003