Issue 03
What caught our eye
Every week we walk the city so you do not have to. Here are the openings our team stopped for: the rooms, the counters and the shelves shaping Tokyo right now.
Two of this week's picks belong to listed groups, and both feel like independent openings. The big players keep borrowing the small guys' tricks.
New restaurants
5 openings
AkasakaMotsuyaki
Motsuyaki-dokoro Ishii
The motsuyaki institution founded in 1950 lands in Akasaka, run by the group behind Tsukiji Gindaco. Seventy-six years of grilled offal, now backed by one of Japan's biggest hospitality operators.
EbisuWood-fire kitchen
Deca
Dynac, the listed restaurant group, opens a wood-fire kitchen and craft pizza bar in Ebisu. The big operators keep pushing upmarket on pizza.
KabukichoChicken izakaya
Koshitsu Tori Yarou
The chicken izakaya chain goes fully private in Kabukicho: fifteen private rooms and fifteen semi-private seats. Opening offer, two hours of all-you-can-drink for three hundred yen.
ShinjukuMatcha café
GYOEN MATCHA
A matcha café two minutes from Shinjuku Gyoen, proudly old school: one cup of tea, no takeaway lattes, open until nine. Calm on purpose in the middle of Shinjuku.
MachidaSento izakaya
Thermae Machida
A sento-themed izakaya where the drinks come out of the taps, self-serve. Cheap, playful, two minutes from Machida station.
New shops
2 openings
HarajukuFashion flagship
Jent Louis Flagship Store
The label's first flagship at CURRENT OMOTESANDO, backed by AnyMind Group, the listed tech company. A tech firm as the patron of a fashion brand: that is the interesting part.
Minami-AoyamaFashion flagship
132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE
A flagship for the 132 5. line in the FROM-1st building, designed by Tokujin Yoshioka. All-white interior against the red brick facade, with an installation on pleating.