Diners at the soon-to-open Nihonbashi Club can expect cuisine that wows, heartens and satisfies.
Moving into a new home usually means gulping down local takeout or delivery pizza amid stacks of half-empty boxes.
But when the Club’s much-anticipated Nihonbashi satellite hub opens this spring, Members can expect an entirely different brand of cuisine from their first meal in the Club’s newest home away from home.
“What I’ve seen the chefs do is look to raise the bar,” says Terry White of the TAC Nihonbashi Task Force member. “[They’ve] looked to create items on the menu and a style of cuisine that suits an urban, contemporary club.”
With food available in the Club’s bar, Satchmo’s, Muromachi Lounge and the American Room, the main restaurant, there will be a host of dining options during the day. And befitting the cosmopolitan environs, the inspired menus will reflect the Club’s unique heritage.
“While [the menus] will have these Japanese inflections, the core of them will still be modern American,” says Lindsay Gray, the Club’s executive chef.
This will mean the likes of locally made, organic yogurt in the morning before work or a pastrami sandwich with kimchi slaw in the afternoon. For dinner, imagine a beef tenderloin with shiso leaf chimichurri—an American classic with a Japanese touch.
“We wanted [the menus] to be familiar yet different [from Azabudai] at the same time,” says White.
With the Nihonbashi Club limited to adult Members, Gray and the Nihonbashi culinary team, led by chef Yasuharu Nakajima, set about exploring more mature flavor combinations when building the menus. So whether it’s tonkatsu pinchos with a cocktail at the bar or a dinner of fresh seafood and a tableside-prepared Caesar salad, the epicurean offerings will lack nothing for originality.
“The point is to create an element of surprise,” says White.
Constantly challenging Members’ palates is no small feat for the Nihonbashi Club. Alongside White and the task force, Gray worked with suppliers of small batches of premium and niche ingredients.
“A lot of these high-quality ingredients from local manufacturers are not available in high quantities,” White explains. “We’ve had to prove ourselves to some of these high-end suppliers in order to procure the volumes we want.”
Combined with some kitchen creativity, such exceptional ingredients are at the heart of the Nihonbashi Club’s culinary soul.
“I personally think that modern American food is represented by great quality product, prepared with a lot of thought and some character and personality,” says Gray.
Within a matter of weeks, Members will be able to taste for themselves. Just be sure not to spoil your appetite before then.
