Drama On A Plate

The drama and flourish of Japanese food was never so evocative as played out at Tokyo’s 81 and Narisawa.

- Koël Purie Rinchet

81, Chef Takeshi Nagashima

The double doors in front of us open with a flourish, Chef Takeshi Nagashima, handsome enough to play the star, walks out into the empty space, takes a bow and we find ourselves applauding even before we’ve tasted a morsel. Behind him, an open kitchen and a pretty looking DJ are revealed. The fact that he is trained at the renowned El Bulli is almost incidental. A top-notch restaurant in this culinary capital of Tokyo can no longer be just about food—it needs drama, lighting, music, nearly extinct ingredients and the chef to be nothing less than a performing artist. 81 as this restaurant is called does not fall short on any of these counts.

From the moment we enter the nondescript apartment block, and gladly hand over much too much money, we know this experience will be like none other. Hushed tones, soft lighting, barely-there music and naked concrete and steel walls, all add to the sense of mystery. The welcome Dom Perignon is drunk in semi darkness. Twelve of us wait in anticipation, letting the tiny bubbles from the carefully selected vintage wash down and then up to make us a little light headed. We’re the chosen few who are about to be let into a well-kept secret. Someone begins to ask a question when the doors to the adjoining room open with sufficient theatrics to inspire silence. We are ushered to our counter seats, forming a U in front of an empty space. Once everyone is seated, theatre-like lights come on and the narrator (maître d’hôtel) moves to the centre of the empty space to start his soliloquy. He tells us that we will be treated to eight courses of unique inventions that the Chef will whip up in front of us to the beats of a live DJ and the grapes for the wine pairing have been handpicked to cause the precise chemical reaction intended for this experience. Expectancy peaks.