Gateway to an exotic Japanese hideaway

WHAT could be more satisfying than grilling raw meat on a hot summer night? How about grilling raw meat on a hot summer night in a halcyon Japanese rooftop garden in downtown L.A.? Toss in a three-piece jazz-lite band called the Sammy Trio and frosty pitchers of Sapporo beer, and you’ve lined up a laid-back evening of self-indulgence.

On a recent Thursday, my brother Jason and I made our way to Little Tokyo’s New Otani Hotel in the early twilight hours to enjoy just such a scene. Our grubby city sweat evaporated the moment we saw the Otani’s lovely garden with its pine, cherry blossom, bamboo and Japanese maple trees, and its cascading fountain with a serene pool, water lapping gently along an edgeless basin of smooth gray rocks.

In a flash, we forgot the man we had seen urinating in the bushes as we approached on 2nd Street. Up high in the Japanese pleasure zone, the sky was a tender blue and the edamame, brought to our table in smart-looking square bowls the moment we were seated, were delicate and sweet.

We ordered a pitcher and sat back to soak up the scene. The after-work crowd was out in force, but white shirts were unbuttoned and ties were askew. There was also an impressive contingent of out-of-towners, and their presence, fortified by their summer vacation best -- crisp white shorts, Hawaiian shirts and ankle socks -- shored up our sense that we had happened upon an unlikely exotic hideaway.

When our congenial waiter returned to pour beer into frosty plastic mugs, we ordered salted beef ribs, pork sausage, a vegetable plate and kimchi pickles. Our waiter turned up the heat on our electric tabletop unit and we tapped our feet to the Sammy Trio’s smooth, balmy rhythms.

If the band’s amps hadn’t caused a power surge that blew out the electricity on half of the patio, and if workmen had not had to crawl around under our legs while a table-full of Japanese businessmen sucked angrily on Silk Cut cigarettes as their beef tongue lay listless on their stone-cold grill, the night would have been just about perfect.

Still, Jason and I were there to relax and we considered the momentary drama a welcome addition to the entertainment. We took advantage of the lull in food service to order a small bottle of icy sake. When the food finally came, our appetites were sufficiently primed, and we grilled with great zeal.

Jason summed up the evening when he popped a delicate piece of salted beef into his mouth, rubbed his stomach happily and proclaimed, “It makes me want to scream with joy.”

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The tab

Dinner / drinks $48

Where: The New Otani Hotel & Garden, 120 S. Los Angeles St., Los Angeles. (213) 629-1200. Pork sausage, lightly salted beef rib, vegetable plate, steamed rice, kimchi pickles, pitcher of Sapporo, mini-bottle of cold sake. Rooftop garden is open 5:30 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, through Sept. 15. Entertainment is free.