In Ginza, tradition still runs the bar. Tigerfish’s Brendan Scott Grey shares a first-hand take on the district he knows best, and inside Bar High Five, where precision and repetition define the craft.
When I first came to Japan, I made the mistake of discussing Tokyo as if it was a unified concept. A city – of course with different districts – that would somehow be largely homogeneous.
The reality is it is more like having eight cities crammed together with strangely noticeable borders once you know what you’re looking at.
For the past four years, I have been travelling to and working in Ginza, which makes me feel like this is the only district I can comment on with any level of understanding.
The streets of Ginza are a beautiful tapestry of grace and fashion with high end clothing, jewellery and apparel stores showcasing their wares through clean and elegant shop fronts often with someone waiting at the door to greet you as their sole responsibility (a role they take very seriously).
Gorgeous little pastry and cake stores are littered throughout with lines stretching down the block as tourists and locals a like compete to get today’s limited release as a treat for themselves or a gift for someone special.
Head back a few blocks from the main strip and you find yourself surrounded by buildings with quiet placards announcing a plethora of bars and restaurants to be investigated on the various floors. Any street you pick will have a myriad of options. Finding the right one for you requires either a lot for trial and error or an insider’s tip.
Down one of the many side alleys then down a quick elevator trip you can find Bar High Five: a 22-seat cocktail bar renowned globally for the excellence of its head bartenders Ueno and Kaori. Once a year in the far corner, you’ll see me frantically preparing your oshiburi, coasters and snacks to get to you before you sit down.
In a global bartending landscape of endless innovation Ginza (and Bar High Five especially) is perfectly happy to stick to tradition and focus on achieving excellence through execution. You won’t find the latest lacto fermentation techniques here. What you will find is classic cocktails refined through years of dedication and love, served to you with all the reverence of a finely sculpted diamond.
To give you an insider’s perspective; once Bar High Five is closed all the apprentices and interns begin working on some area of their craft. Just last night, I watched an apprentice spend two hours trying to make 10 Manhattans in a row of exactly the same flavour, dilution, and appearance. He never made it past three. However, this is the first step on his journey to excellence, and his dedication deserves all the praise in the world.
To visit Ginza is a joy. To work here is to dedicate yourself to something much bigger. It is my sincerest hope that more Australian bartenders come to be a part of that.