Tokyo

Nikuya Tanaka Ginza

肉屋　田中　銀座

This an open invitation to all who want to eat the best wagyu in Japan. Having solidified his place in the world as a meat master, Satoru Tanaka has finally arrived in Tokyo, opening a restaurant in the prime real estate of Ginza. So proud is he of the product that he wants as many as possible to enjoy it, but to maximize the experience, he asks guests to do some background reading. So please, read on.

On the ninth floor of a Ginza 6-chome building filled with trendy restaurants, a sign seems to float among a candle objet d’art leading you into a restaurant interior that takes your breath away. Designed by the award-winning Yasumichi Morita, CEO of GLAMOROUS – a company engaged in projects around the globe – this luxurious space is one to capture the essence of Japan in the world. It combines lacquered materials with unfinished timber, cherry tree bark, and other touches showcasing Japanese sensibilities. The tableware is a veritable walk through Japanese history, from Edo-period antiques to modernist pieces.

With a counter for nine and a private room for four, the seat numbers already show how exclusive this experience is. The chef appears to work on a stage, furnished with a charcoal fire and traditional kamado stove, and to the left, an incredible rogama brick oven filled with Kishu binchotan charcoal over which the steaks are cooked. It is impossible to take your eyes off the cooking or to stop yourself from salivating.

Enjoy Wagyu Kappo

The course comprises twelve dishes that change monthly but always with steak as the climax. Every guest is given ample opportunity to savor Jun Tajima-gyu beef – incredible wagyu deserving of the title of Japan’s best. Chef Tanaka is uniquely skilled in presenting the niku kappo counter fine-dining style featuring wagyu; the genre requires the master to seamlessly incorporate a commanding presence like premium wagyu beef into the delicate style of Japanese cuisine.

He formulates dishes with ingredients to complement the premium beef, with each cut given unique and minimal treatment, only possible because of Tanaka’s unparalleled knowledge of the product. He uses kombu and salt to cure and tenderize and exquisite knife cuts to showcase the product he is so proud of. You can hear guests’ collective oohs and aahs as he slices into the beef, revealing the mouthwatering, juicy inside.

Guided by the ingredients in every moment, Chef Tanaka considers it a privilege to work with this beef. His gentle touches create culinary masterpieces for guests to savor in presentations and on tableware that elevate the food to works of art. The sommelier’s selection of fine wines is the final puzzle piece in a deeply satisfying meal.

One course in a traditional Japanese meal is always served in a lidded dish, and Tanaka’s warming creation is a plump, succulent dumpling filled with snow crab. A signature dish born at the flagship restaurant, Nagoya’s Setsugekka, contains kombu-cured Tajima-gyu lean thigh meat wrapped in crips seaweed with a green shiso leaf and ginger and topped with karasumi mullet roe. Another specialty is the ichibo or aitchbone rump of Tajima-gyu, aged for 48 months and cured in kombu, then cooked as a block over charcoals before being cut to serve. It is impossible to move your gaze as the chef presses the block against the charcoals to achieve a beautiful crust. And the color contrast when he slices the beef is a tease making it hard to wait to sink your teeth into this beef. Then the main dish – Chateaubriand Tajima-gyu steak aged 48 months, skillfully seasoned with several salt varieties and cooked to perfection in the rogama.

INGREDIENTS
The beef selected by one of Japan’s premier meat professionals is purebred Tajima – an extremely rare variety constituting less than 0.1% of all beef on the Japanese market. The Tajima purebred cattle can only be raised by designated farmers in highly monitored environments and go to market between 28 and 60 months. The cultivation methods result in super fine muscle fiber and excellent marbling that satiates guests with a smooth, tender texture. Tanaka only uses cattle raised over 40 months. His supply of this premium beef is guaranteed because his annual order tops 100 head of cattle. He examines each animal, not content to simply know its origin or brand.

CHEF

Satoru Tanaka

Satoru Tanaka was born in Gifu Prefecture in 1967. Meat is part of his DNA. Tanaka even goes so far as to say that he and his family possess the bacteria to make meat delicious. His grandfather was a horse dealer and livestock expert whom Tanaka remembers talking about identifying good cattle by their feet or buttocks from his earliest days. And as his father ran a butcher shop, Tanaka was already cutting up meat for fun as an elementary school student. He would help his father make deliveries on his tricycle and would be blown away by the amazing smells of restaurant kitchens. Chefs and managers typically train somewhere first, but Tanaka dived in feeling he could not understand the whole process if he did not try it himself. So, he started his own business and has been managing it ever since. Then at age 50, he determined to revisit his roots. He opened Nikuya Setsugekka Nagoya and was selected for the Michelin Guide for Aichi, Gifu, and Mie in 2019. This was followed by several awards from Tabelog, a national online restaurant guide with 60 million users in which actual guests allocate stars to restaurants. Tanaka’s restaurant network spans the land from Tokyo to Nagoya, Gifu, and Shiga, with staff thriving in its great working environment. It is the ideal number of restaurants to share the incredible meat Tanaka purchases. Because, after all, it is all about the meat.

Before embarking on the journey for this restaurant, Tanaka had only ever been to Ginza a handful of times, a sign of his commitment to his tasks as a meat master. Now guests can soak up the fruits of that dedication with Tanaka behind the counter bursting with motivation to please his guests. The depth of knowledge inspiring the dishes makes for incredibly compelling cuisine.

VISION
In recent years, Chef Tanaka has been working on niku kappo to modernize and make it more accessible. Having earned his stripes in Nagoya, he has successfully launched onto the Tokyo Ginza food scene. He loves the challenge of a new place and has his sights on overseas next, wanting to share the wonders of the proud Japanese export of wagyu with the world. He plans to spend the remainder of his life further perfecting his wagyu skills. It is no exaggeration to say that he lives for wagyu.

PRODUCE

Unsurprisingly, the finest beef is served with similarly premium ingredients like truffles, caviar, matsutake mushrooms, and other seasonal specialties. They must live up to the incredible quality of the wagyu: Tottori Prefecture snow crab, local Kyoto vegetables, and other flavorful produce from around Japan. The uni sea urchin and seafood are a match for nearby Ginza sushi restaurants, and the chef even selects the most exclusive pieces of fruit. Dashi is flavored with Rishiri kombu and bonito flakes from Yaizu. No expense is spared to procure luxury ingredients that make guests’ hearts flutter. All are woven into an exquisite menu to take guests on a savory stroll through the season and wow them with a wonderful Japanese dining experience.