Kuro

Kuro is a multifaceted restaurant concept from Taka Teramoto, formerly of Michelin-starred restaurants Restaurant Pages in Paris and Florilège in Tokyo. It's split into three distinct spaces: a mid-range dining room serving both lunch and dinner, a cocktail bar run by some of the city’s best mixologists, and an intimate chef’s table, Kuro’s Kitchen.

The dining room is framed by 56 parallel illuminated oak beams that stretch from the floor to the ceiling, and each of the tables are made from a striking dark marble.

Set menus are served at both lunch and dinner, featuring past highlights such as black fried chicken, bass grouper with harusame (glass noodles) and crab sauce, and aged duck breast with black garlic and soy vinegar. Drinks are by Teramoto’s partner, Wanaka Teramoto. There are upwards of 120 wines, most by small-batch Australian minimal-intervention winemakers, and a solid selection of sakes, plum wines and Japanese beers.

The purest expression of Kuro’s root-to-stem philosophy is found at Kuro’s Kitchen, where Teramoto serves a three-hour degustation of raw and cooked dishes to just 10 diners. It’s incredibly popular, and reservations can only be made via text message.

The bar isn’t as visually striking as the other areas, but it’s framed, charmingly, by the original heritage bricks. This is where bartenders with endearing old-school attire (think bow ties, surgeon’s jacket and vests) serve cocktails, and healthy selections of shoju, sake, gin and whisky.