Located almost in the center of Tokyo, Tachikawa City is an hour’s drive from Haneda Airport. JR Tachikawa Station is a major transportation hub served by many JR lines and a monorail, yet it retains lush landscape including Showa Memorial Park and the Tamagawa River. Just a minute walk from JR Nishi-Kunitachi Station, one stop from JR Tachikawa Station, Auberge TOKITO welcomes guests with the beauty that seems to draw in the surrounding nature as it is.
Mumon-An, the predecessor of Auberge TOKITO, is a long-established ryotei (traditional Japanese restaurant) that was well known in the Tachikawa area. Its history dates back to the early Showa era. As a inn, it offered warm meals and lodging to guests, and after the war, it carved out a long history as a ryotei. Auberge TOKITO, which opened as its successor, retains many of its historic features, including the main gate and garden, while the interior has been modernized and reborn as an auberge. It has a dining room, a tea room, and four guest rooms.
The dining room has 10 counter seats and 22 table seats. The counter offers the dynamism of a chef’s table, and even at the tables, guests receive intimate service as the chefs approach the guests to explain the ingredients. Creating cuisine for both settings are Executive Chef Yoshinori Ishii, General Manager and Head Chef Kenji Okawara, and Head Chef Hiroki Hiyama. A team of seven chefs led by these three prepares the cuisine. After they worked together at a renowned and long-established restaurant in Kyoto, Chef Ishii led the Japanese restaurant UMU London to two stars, while Chef Okawara earned one star for Ito in Kyoto.
“Artisan Cuisine,” Auberge TOKITO’s culinary concept, means that six unique chefs, like a team of artisans, craft the courses. Chefs with a variety of domestic and international careers have assembled to create a novel style of Japanese cuisine that will delight and surprise guests. Chefs take advantage of the relationships they have had with producers and are conscious of capturing the “moments” of the best ingredients available, such as those found in Hokkaido or Kyoto. Furthermore, in cooperation with local producers, a Hokkaido fisherman’s group called Hasshinkai produces kajika-bushi, an alternative to bonito flakes made from typically unused fish that rarely make it to the market. They use such ingredients because they believe “the mission of a restaurant is to create value from things that are not yet known.”
For drinks, sake and wines collected from all over the world are on offer. There is a focus on Japanese producers, not only of sake, but also wine and gin. Alcohol pairings are also on offer. Wineries in Hokkaido, Yamagata, Nagano, and other regions are used extensively by the chefs because of the trust they have built with them.
The dining room, renovated from the Mumon-An days, is modernized with many natural materials, such as wood, stone, and exposed-aggregate plaster walls, while retaining its historical dignity. Most of the pottery was fired by Mr. Ishii using soil from Mumon-An and charcoal ash collected from cooking. The counter is made of Japanese cypress, and the tables in the hall are made of walnut. All are subdued materials whose depth and flavor are enhanced by the changes they undergo. In addition to the counter and hall, there are three private rooms each with space for four guests. Children must be at least 16 years old and must be able to have the same meals as adults. Chef Ishii himself can explain the dishes in English for international guests. It’s suitable for dates and dining with close friends, as well as gatherings of foodies.
“Toki” used in the restaurant's name means time and crested ibis, a bird representative of Japan. Like the feathers of a crested ibis, which shine in a variety of colors and have no fixed color, or like its changing colors, the world view of the restaurant is created by the chefs’ varied aesthetic senses, while embracing constant change. Why not visit the Auberge TOKITO for a taste of that novelty?
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* The availability of this webpage does not guarantee that the restaurant presented provides services in English, unless otherwise stated. Please be aware that English services may also depend on staff availability at the restaurant.
Access
1 min walk from Nishi-National Station on the JR Nambu Line.
