Quinto, widely considered one of the toughest restaurant reservations to land in Tokyo, will open its second location this May, this time in Ginza, giving a wider audience access to the restaurant’s signature approach to pairing ingredients.
The Tiny Nakameguro Restaurant Behind One of Tokyo’s Hardest Reservations to Score
Quinto first opened in May 2023 in a quiet pocket of Nakameguro, roughly halfway between Nakameguro and Ikejiri Ohashi stations, as a sister restaurant to two of chef Hideaki Kawashima’s most acclaimed projects, the French restaurant Bon.nu in Sangubashi and the members only counter restaurant Treis. Treis, whose name comes from the ancient Greek word for three, is an invitation only restaurant with just ten seats split between a six seat counter and a four seat private room, and it has earned consecutive Tabelog Silver Awards. Quinto was conceived as a more accessible expression of that same culinary world, though “accessible” is relative. The Nakameguro original seats only six guests at its counter, with just two seatings a day on weekdays, one at 5:00 PM and another at 8:30 PM. Between that tiny footprint, the pedigree of the chefs behind it, and a course menu priced around ¥19,800 with an optional wine pairing, tables disappear the moment they open, which is exactly why Quinto has built a reputation as one of the city’s most coveted reservations.
The Philosophy Behind Quinto’s Two Ingredient Pairings
While Treis built its reputation on taking a single ingredient and exploring it to its absolute limit, Quinto flips that idea on its head, building each dish around the relationship between two carefully chosen ingredients. At the helm is chef Kozo Imai, who spent six years training under Shinko Nakamura, himself a protege of the legendary Japanese chef Rokusaburo Michiba, before sharpening his skills further at some of Japan’s most respected Japanese restaurants. Once a month, the kitchen travels to farms and fishing ports around the country to hand select seasonal ingredients, which are then combined in unexpected ways so that each component sharpens the flavor of the other. The restaurant’s most iconic dish is its take on a hamburger steak made from prized Kenran beef, coarsely chopped and seasoned with little more than salt, a dish built to let the quality of the meat speak for itself. The result is a menu that bridges Kawashima’s foundation in Japanese technique with French and other international influences, all filtered through Imai’s distinctly Japanese sensibility.
A Ginza Expansion Built Around Charcoal Fire
The new Ginza location will give Quinto’s two ingredient concept a larger stage, while also pushing the kitchen in a new direction. Building on everything that has made the Nakameguro restaurant so sought after, Ginza Quinto will introduce charcoal grilling into the repertoire for the first time, layering smoke and fire into dishes that have so far been defined by precision and restraint. The goal is a menu that still revolves around the dialogue between two ingredients, but now filtered through the deep, smoky character that only charcoal cooking can provide, resulting in dishes unlike anything currently on Quinto’s menu.
The Details
Ginza Quinto is set to open in May 2026 at Dai-go Taiyo Building 102, 7-10-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, and can be reached by phone at 03-5962-8518. The restaurant will offer two seatings each evening, with the first running from 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM and the second from 8:00 PM to 10:30 PM.
