A new space called "8go" has opened in Yaesu, Tokyo, with the aim of realizing a regenerative future. What does chef Tatsuya Noda propose for the future of food eight years from now?
This exquisite dish is made from vegetable scraps that have been dried at temperatures below 40°C to preserve their flavor and color, then boiled in a siphon three times and enhanced with only salt. Served on sustainable ARAS plates and sake cups inherited from a nearby sushi restaurant that went out of business, the restaurant values the future circulation of everything surrounding food. It will be offered as part of a course that will be launched this fall or winter (it can also be enjoyed at nôl in Nihonbashi Bakurocho).
Text by Yui Togawa
Photo by Yu Mitamura
Photographs by Yu Mitamura
[Article published in the July 2025 issue of Kronos Japan]
The future and possibilities of food driven by harmony and circulation
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1985, he was a semiconductor engineer before switching careers to become a chef. After graduating from a vocational school, he worked at a French restaurant in Tokyo before moving to France in 2012, where he was mentored by Shinichi Sato of "Passage53." While working in a variety of freelance roles, he also served as director of "kitchen spacenôl," leading the restaurant to one Michelin star and a Michelin Green Star.
"The tomato skins and herbs create a refreshing summer feeling, while the indigenous Japanese spice, kuro moji, adds a sweet note. The bamboo shoots, baby corn skins, and snap pea stems and strings form the main flavor components, resulting in a surprisingly savory dish," says chef Tatsuya Noda. This elegant soup conveys the changing of the seasons. As you sip, it slowly seeps into every corner of your body. However, the name of the dish is shocking: "Garbage Soup." Noda has been making this dish since he was working at a restaurant in Paris seven or eight years ago, and it was named by artist Takashi Murakami, a regular at the restaurant. "The COVID-19 pandemic has made it gradually more popular in Japan, and the reactions of our guests have made me realize the shift in global values," he recalls.
Noda's first move to France was prompted by a photograph he picked up in a bookstore of a dish created by Shinichi Sato of the two-star Michelin restaurant Passage 53 (currently Restaurant Blanc Paris). Motivated, he began working under Sato six months later. "Even now, when I create a dish, Chef Sato's esprit is a major part of my approach," he says. When asked why he chose to work as a chef and not be limited to one restaurant, he replied that he wanted to increase the ways and options chefs can work, expand the areas in which they can work to promote connections with society, and weave the future of food into the people who carry it on.
Since last year, Noda has been involved with the "Tokyo Living Lab," which consists of two parts: the "Gastronomy Innovation Campus Tokyo," the first international base to offer a curriculum in collaboration with the Basque Culinary Center, one of the world's leading academic institutions in gastronomy science, and the innovative kitchen "8go."
"Come purely to enjoy the food experience. We've prepared hooks that will inspire you for the future," says Noda cheerfully. The facility is packed with diverse elements, yet is very comfortable. Visiting 8go makes you think about what food will be like eight years from now, and makes you want to try something small (like sowing vegetable seeds). It's a place that gives you that opportunity.
8go (Ego)
Yaenaka Dining B2F, 1-4-16 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Tel.070-8970-5274
Closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays
カフェ11:00～17:00、ランチ11:30～L.O.14:30、ディナー17:30～23:00
Drinks from 500 yen, food from 1500 yen
