SUMI, a charcoal grill restaurant located inside the Janu Tokyo hotel in Azabudai Hills, opened in March 2024. Guests are captivated by the variety of dishes that skillfully use charcoal in a variety of ways.
This autumnal dish is served as an appetizer in the 13-course chef's choice course "Tomo." The rice is koshihikari and hitomebore, milled using traditional methods by Sumidaya, a rice husk specialist that has been in business for over 100 years and also has a store at Azabudai Hills Market. The soup is made from salmon bones and combined with bonito stock, cooked in a clay pot by Nakagawa Ippento of Kumoigama. It will be available until November 9th.
Photographs by Yu Mitamura
[Article published in the July 2024 issue of Kronos Japan]
The connection between people and food born from charcoal
Born in Tokyo in 1975, he has honed his skills at restaurants such as Nadaman at the InterContinental Tokyo Bay and Kozue at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. He has devoted himself to Japanese cuisine, and has studied soba noodles at Ginhachitei Yazawa in Kameari for over 10 years. He will be appointed head chef of SUMI at Janu Tokyo, which opened in 2024.
Aman is a pioneer in luxury hospitality and a lifestyle brand beloved around the world. Its sister brand, Janu, has opened its first hotel in the world, Janu Tokyo, in Azabudai Hills. Unusually for a hotel that opened recently, it boasts a full complement of eight restaurants and bars. They're all so appealing, it's hard to decide which one to visit...
SUMI is the only restaurant in Janu Tokyo that is located in a separate building. A grill sits in the center of a U-shaped counter, and chef Hisaaki Otsuka, who has extensive experience working at a Japanese restaurant in a hotel, shows off his skills. Based on kaiseki cuisine, the restaurant offers a chef's choice course that incorporates a unique interpretation of traditional charcoal grilling.
"We use Hyuga Binchotan charcoal from Miyazaki Prefecture. As we use charcoal for most of the dishes, even the desserts, we arrange the charcoal on the deep grill to achieve three temperature zones," explains Otsuka. Carefully selected seasonal ingredients are presented, and using charcoal, straw, firewood, and cherry wood chips, they are optimally cooked and flavored to create an elegant dish. The cooking process becomes a vibrant performance, like a dynamic stage performance. Using charcoal throughout the course creates a pleasant and unified impression, with dishes that vary in tempo.
This autumn's appetizer, which appears midway through the course, is "Salmon Cooked in a Pot with Rice, Salmon Roe, and Yuzu Citrus." It's so extravagant it feels like the perfect final meal. While it's easy to imagine the salmon being grilled over charcoal, it doesn't stop there. High-temperature charcoal, burning red hot from the core, is poured into the earthenware pot, transferring the aroma of the charcoal. The salmon roe removed from the salmon is transformed into a mild-flavored salmon roe, making the most of every ingredient in the dish. Each palm-sized portion is taken from the pot, and the gentle flavor that condenses the season is combined with a powerful intensity.
The hotel has a unique style of having everyone start at the same time, creating a unique sense of unity among guests. Janu's concepts of "connection," "inspiration," and "spirit of inquiry" are also embodied in the restaurant. As Otsuka says, "I was fascinated by the world of food, which can make people smile in an instant, and that's why I decided to pursue this path," when you sit at the counter at "SUMI," you'll be mesmerized by the delicate techniques used to cook charcoal, and your face will often break into a smile as you taste the food, which is richly infused with the aroma of charcoal.
SUMI
Janu Tokyo Annex Building 3F, 1-2-2 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel.050-1809-5550
(Restaurant reservations accepted from 9:00 to 21:00) Open daily
Two sessions: 18:00 and 20:30
29,000 yen (service charge included)
