Tsurezure

Watch the fire. Lose track of time, with sake and something to nibble.

It began with a sudden request from the building's owner. Could we create a place where people could take their time over a meal while gazing at a fire?

He didn't mean a yakiniku grill. What he had in mind was a fire with real flames, like a bonfire. Could such a thing be built in the very heart of Tokyo, and indoors at that? Half convinced it was impossible, we started looking into it.

If they couldn't do it, no one could. With the feeling of placing our last hope, we turned to the construction firm Ishimaru.

Ishimaru found a way to make it work.

Most crucial of all, and hardest by far, was the air intake and exhaust. To handle open flames indoors, the airflow had to be calculated and then turned into reality. From survey to construction, it took years. At last, the restaurant that answered that first wish was complete.

The one who stepped forward to be chef was Tomohiro Kameda, a cook of Italian cuisine.

Kameda had experience with charcoal grilling. But Tsurezure is a restaurant rooted in Japanese cuisine. In this unfamiliar world, Kameda struggled hard. He trained at Tempura & Wine Shino within our group as well, making Japanese cooking his own. And so a new cuisine was born, where Italian essence melts into Japanese cooking.

At Tsurezure there are only fully private rooms built around irori hearths. Each spacious room has its own dedicated chef and sommelier. Using only the fire before you, they slowly bring the season's finest to completion. A luxurious arrangement indeed.

Steamed in seiro, grilled on skewers, buried in ash, seared whole. Gathered around a hot pot, and to finish, rice cooked in an iron kama. Twelve dishes unfold slowly over about three hours.

Rooms built sturdy enough to stand up to open flames. Within them flows a leisurely time that makes you forget you are in the middle of the city.

Into the name, we put a wish: that you forget the busyness of daily life and simply spend time watching the fire with people you feel at ease with.

The fire, the rooms, the food — each one of a kind. A special place. Spend a night here without looking at the clock.