TRATTORIA PIZZERIA 207Shibuya

The offer came out of the blue.

It was from Mr. Nanzuka of NANZUKA Gallery. He was opening a bar in Shibuya — would we open a restaurant next door?

Moving into a large commercial building, and joining construction before it was even completed, were both firsts for GRAPES. A world with a very high bar for us. But a connection like this doesn't come around often. We had no choice but to do it. We made up our minds.

Having worked in Shibuya for a long time, we had some feel for what the neighborhood is like. There are fewer wonderful places than you might think — the kind that lift your mood a little, that you'd want to go to for a small celebration.

Though it is in Shibuya, this spot lies on the Aoyama side, right where people walking from Shibuya meet people walking from Omotesando. We wanted to lean a little toward Omotesando while keeping Shibuya's easygoing spirit. As we turned the ideas over, we suddenly realized: that mingled atmosphere somehow resembled 207 in Hayama.

From there, we began to think about bringing 207 to Shibuya.

207 in Hayama makes the most of everything its setting offers — the sea, the air, the unhurried flow of time.

Shibuya is different. Even to be generous, you couldn't call the view or the air good. In this city, nature cannot be your ally. So the only way was to capture the beauty of the city within the space itself.

Idea after idea came and went. After many conversations with lighting designer Mr. Yoshioka, we arrived at a concept: “the starry-sky restaurant.”

Using an enormous number of lights, we would create a starry sky in the middle of the city. We adjusted the light again and again, checking each lamp one by one, shaping the sky little by little.

The restaurant that emerged looked as if a starry sky had descended on Shibuya. By day, the room is open and filled with light. When night falls, the lights across the ceiling begin to twinkle like stars.

The cooking is based on 207 in Hayama. Every morning, shirasu arrive from Hayama. Hayama seafood and Hayama Ishii beef. Handmade pasta and Neapolitan pizza baked in the oven. From there, little by little, we keep refining it to make it ever more delicious.

Precious time spent with precious people. So that we can color that time ever more beautifully, 207 lights its lamps under the Shibuya stars, today as ever.