This Toranomon eatery is the brainchild of some of Tokyo’s sharpest operators. Transit, who are responsible for a string of much-loved venues including Ginza’s Modern Greek restaurant The Apollo, have tapped renowned interior designer Masamichi Katayama and his Wonderwall studio to create this casual restaurant complete with in-house craft beer brewery from August Beer.
Down in the B2F basement of Toranomon Hills Station Tower, Wonderwall’s future-facing design for Dam incorporates sleek surfaces and strip lighting (thankfully not overly bright) in place of the retro stylings usually associated with artisanal brewing. Illuminated text above the counter bar spells out a quotation from writer and noted drinker Ernest Hemingway (‘I drink to make other people more interesting’), while a series of sizeable photorealistic portraits by painter Kotao Tomozawa look out over seating from within open-faced booths.
The food is overseen by Fumio Yonezawa, who was the first Japanese to serve as sous chef at three-Michelin-starred NYC restaurant Jean-Georges. Particularly recommended is the elevated take on fish and chips (¥1,900), which can be ‘upgraded’ to a sharing-friendly assorted plate (¥4,200) that adds your choice of two seafood picks from a selection that includes squid and soft-shelled crab with salmon.
Pair that with August Beer’s signature Daily Paper Saison (¥780 regular size), or perhaps a glass of Dawn Brew (¥880 regular size). The latter offering is as much of a collaborative effort as Dam itself: the restaurant worked with Tokyo’s Little Darling Coffee Roasters, and the Rise & Win brewery in Japan’s ‘zero-waste town’ Kamikatsu, to develop this limited-edition coffee brown ale whose aroma is a heady blend of malt and carefully roasted coffee beans.
Text by Darren Gore