yardbird

It became evident quite early on that this restaurant was just a little bit too trendy to take my dad too. In fact, this restaurant might be a little bit too trendy for me. Door girl wearing Acne, speakers blasting Linda Lyndell and more funky frames (on waiters and diners alike) than the Bespec'd website. We took our seats and patiently awaited Suntory (dad) and Shochu cocktail (me). We had left Hong Kong and entered Japan. It-restaurants are all well and good but for me - and especially when I have a family member in tow - the food has to deliver. Think, for example, of Ms G's in Sydney, or Nanashi in Paris. Well, you can add Yardbird to that list. Interestingly, Yardbird also draws on that growing trend for blending traditional asian flavours (in their case Japanese) with modern pairings, a tongue-in-cheek menu (K.F.C translates to Korean Fried cauliflower, crispy, sticky and resolutely not like cauliflower at all and the hilarious Bloody Kim Jong Il cocktail, a blend of Vodka, Tomato Juice and Kimchi) and a sense of playfulness that comes effortlessly to the innately cool. We savoured our yakitori and enjoyed truly delicious cucumber salad with peanut oil dressing and pine nuts but the real hero dish was the crispy balls of sweet corn tempura and the rich, sinfully thick chicken egg rice, with crispy chicken skin and a whole egg cracked over the top. We cleaned up the lot with just enough room for peanut butter ice cream after. Trendy? Yes. But in a good way, in the best way, in that it looks good but tastes even better.

Yardbird, 33-35 Bridges St, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

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toko

Photos by Rachel Kara, Layout, Edit and Handwriting by Talisa Sutton, Words by Hannah-Rose Yee

Where did we find an oasis of calm during fashion week? Where did we find a few hours to sit down, away from the madness and unglamourous and tragedy (of parking tickets and forgotten memory cards, among other things), and be taken away to somewhere so perfect and simple, in the way that only good food and great cocktails can? The answer to that question is Toko, Sydney's best and most innovative Japanese restaurant, tucked into the heart of Crown Street, yet with the atmosphere and feel of a restaurant like nowhere else. 

Because it has such style. The cocktail list effortlessly blends Japanese flavours (there's a shochu caipiroska, and their famous bellinis add a dash of sake to the prosecco and peach juice mix), a sign of good things to come from the kitchen. We mused that it would be an excellent place to go on a date - streamlined and slick, how could it fail to make the best possible impression? - and we looked enviously over our shoulders at the family of six celebrating a birthday milestone with their signature dessert plate and sparklers. Toko is a restaurant made for celebrating - and celebrating in real style. 

The revamped and reinvigorated menu is a charming reflection of this. Featuring venison, baby squid and quail, tempered by Japanese flavours such as miso, ponzu and dashi, head chef Ben Orpwood has taken Toko back to its roots, with locally-sourced ingredients and exciting (surprising, even) flavour combinations. The slippery Garfish, rolled elegantly into a coil and seasoned with yuzu and ginko nuts was warily approached but swiftly embraced; the flavour a sophisticated play of fresh sea-water and fragrant herbs. One of our most-loved dishes of the evening was the spiced tofu squares, effortlessly partnered with an avocado salsa. We also made room for Toko's new favourite dish - pork belly with apple relish - well worth the hype. Even after plates of this (as well as maki rolls, seared wagyu beef, vegetable tempura and scallops) we indulged in one of Toko's beautiful desserts (well, when in rome!). The coconut pannacotta - all light-handed creaminess, pierced through with the lovely acidity of strawberries - was the perfect end to our meal. We started on the short walk back to The Cambridge Hotel, our base for the week, and back to reality (late-nights editing photos, writing reviews and putting together blog posts) but we felt refreshed, revived and, well, lucky. Not everyone gets to go to Japan for dinner on a Wednesday night.

We stole a moment with new head-chef Ben Orpwood to talk about fresh produce, new blood, and cooking at home. Thank you for having us, Cavcon and Toko!

one. How would you describe Toko's cuisine? I like to describe Toko's food as authentic yet not traditional Japanese... by this I mean we use authentic Japanese ingredients, authentic Japanese cooking and serving techniques, and we pair this with contemporary cooking and flavours to cater for the western palette while staying true to our Japanese roots. 

two. What can diners expect from Toko's new tasting menu? The tasting menu is notoriously hard to change, as it’s kind of a Toko favourites menu... we have added a Venison Carpaccio which has been received incredibly well. We did this to try and get people interested in new flavours and different meats. I grew up in the country side and Venison was a staple for us, so I like to introduce people to different flavours in a palatable way. The new pork belly dish with apple and wasabi is flying out of the kitchen.... It’s our version of pork and apple sauce, again a familiar flavour done in an authentic Japanese way. 

three. How did you get your start in the restaurant business? When I was 16 I applied for an apprenticeship at Queens College Cambridge... In hospitality you get bitten by this bug and you stuck with it. My old catering manager would say to my you get out what you put in, so after I qualified as a cook I went to London to put in and see what I got out. I came away with an amazing journey that took me from London to Istanbul, to Dubai and Sydney... 

four. What is your favourite item of produce that you work with at Toko? What makes it so special? The best produce to work with at the moment would be the local seafood; Garfish, Baby Squid and Mackerel. I’m very much about supporting the local fishermen and local industries. Being able to use fish caught locally is a wonderful privilege. In Dubai most of the food is imported from France, UK or Australia and you’re dealing with the middle man sales person, for me, this is sad. I like to be able to talk with the guy as close to the produce as possible, at Toko we are very lucky to work with some of the best in the business, Frank from De Costi and Ishisan at Wellstone. 

five. What is your favourite meal to cook at home? Cooking at home is a bit of a luxury as my wife works in the restaurant business as well, so we are really never home.. But when I am, I love baking... I bake bread and pastries, there is normally a tart of some kind in our fridge. Also we have a small garden, so cooking with what I have grown is something I really enjoy... The last thing I cooked at home was butter milk fried chicken with a coleslaw with kohlrabi, radishes and cabbage from the garden.

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found

1-2, 5, 7 - pages from MUJI Found, 3 - Byredo Perfume Dispenser, 4 - TOME tunic from My Chameleon, 6 - Celine Aviators, 8 - Dieppa Restrepo loafers from My Chameleon and Porselli ballet flats

 

This book is one of my favourite buys from Tokyo. I picked it up from the MUJI flagship store in Marounouchi (the one with a restaurant, oh be still my heart!) but only got the chance to have a proper flick through it once I got back to Sydney. "Rather than just making things, MUJI has always taken the stance of "searching and finding" a lifestyle," the first page says. "We search throughout the world for items that have long been used in daily life without ever going out of fashion, improve on them a little to fit changing lifestyles, culture and customs and reproduce them at a reasonable price." I have always loved Muji's retail philosophy, but this book has really reinforced all the conceptions that I had about the brand. Filled with low-fi, analogue images of everything from bamboo chopsticks and plastic wrapping from China to naan bread dishes from India and - my favourite section, of course - the classical beauty of Paris ("France is always a model for Japan, in fact, it is a model for the world"), the book celebrates everyday life as it is distilled in the objects that litter our existence. It is minimal and simple, a fete of paper napkins and handwriting as well as hand-embroidery and the particular elegance of Parisian streets. Of Paris, the book says "Streets of stone, bridges of stone. A city created to never change". 

 

The idea has struck me recently as I unpacked my bags and set about resuming Sydney life. I have long searched for a wardrobe that is built to last, created to never change. As I add - and subtract - from the bits and pieces hanging up, folded down, stacked in boxes and piled in their dustbags above and below, I have always been moving slowly yet steadily towards that end goal. Some of the items that I have found along the way are odd - yellow suede ballet flats, flashy aviators with a horn trim - but that is all part of the fun. Style is as much about the idiosyncrasies and the outliers as it is about the standard. I think what I love most is how comfortable I am about my standard now. I know instantly, sensorily, the first touch of a murky brown cotton twill tunic, the first feel of my toes in a pair of loafers, the first sight of those Parisian streets. It has something to do with growing up, I think, but also to do with where I am in my life at the moment. I know what I'm doing. And that, inextricably, yet undeniably, helps with what I'm wearing.

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instant tokyo

Nothing but great memories from this city. I can't wait to go back. I love the fact that I'm revisiting the polaroids I snapped instantly, without hesitation and, often, without pause, on the streets of Tokyo. Swiftly taken images are, I think, the best ones. A true kodak moment.

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tokyo photo diary

What a city. I'll be seeing you.

The fancy part; Marunouchi you charmer, you // The family who sneaks together, stays together // Melon tomatoes waiting to be picked up at Shibuya // Colour-coded shelves at Mansun bookstore in Marunouchi // Old maps of Tokyo // The view from the top (of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building in Shinjuku) // Afternoon tea at the Park Hyatt // New Year wishes at the Meiji shrine // A fantastic brunch at the Rose Bakery x Comme Des Garcons store // What a spread, Tokyo, what a spread!

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pure luxury

I really don't see how it could ever get any better than this. Thanks to a Christmas present from my mum to my dad, my family and I enjoyed a brief but absolutely amazing stay at the Park Hyatt Tokyo during out trip in Japan. It was complete bliss - utter luxury, the best kind, the one that makes you think yes, life really should be just like this - complete with the softest fluffy bathrobes and warmed up slippers. My mum and I joked that we were never going to leave the hotel, that we would lie on the bed for hours listening to the quiet strings of a mandolin, or sit happily ensconced on the 41st floor at the afternoon tea lounge, where black-and-white suited ladies wandered around offering you refills of your rosewater marshmallow and raspberry petit fours... Staying there truly was perfect. The kind of perfect that made me think that Scarlett Johansson really must be incredibly spoiled to complain about jet lag and not sleeping when instead she could slip into that bathrobe, spritz a little of their aesop face freshener and potter about amongst that thick green carpet. Who needs sleep when you can have repose as blissful as this?

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cakey

I've started to joke that this holiday is going to be a Rose Bakery tour of the world - it's one of my favourite places in the world and I happen to be stopping in every city that houses Rose Carrarini's organic food emporiums (Tokyo, London, Paris). Even after all the hype and after years of loving it I still get excited when I see that curvy logo, those long wooden tables and that window shopfront displaying all the delicious cakes and treats. That's what makes travel so exciting now, not the thrill of purchases that people can't get at home (with online shopping now this is all but redundant), but the thrill of eating things that people can't get at home. Today was the perfect day for it, after wandering around the imperial gardens with thousands of other Tokyo residents hoping for a glimpse of the emperor, we ended up in Ginza in search of tea and cake and rest for weary, tired feet. A spicy ginger tea and that famous, famous carrot cake (for good reason, as always!) was the perfect way to start my rose bakery tour of the world. Part 2: Paris, to come!

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day one

First day in Tokyo was new year's day and the city was completely empty. Stores were closed, even starbucks shut its doors, and I was the only one wandering the streets. Yes, I did get lost. It was cold and even with blue skies I had to draw my coat tight around me. But it was so beautiful.

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