Longrain the next big Australian restaurant to open in Tokyo

How long will it be before Tokyo has its own Australiatown dining precinct? Actually, make that Sydneytown. Back in April Good Food reported Longrain was secretly negotiating to join Tokyo-bound Sydney restaurants Apollo, Salt, Fratelli Paradiso and Bills. Longrain co-owner, Sam Christie, confirmed the Tokyo deal is across the line.

Longrain Yebisu will open next year on the 38th floor of a high-rise in Tokyo, so it won't mirror the warehouse feel of the Surry Hills original.

"Being so high up we will be doing something different, a bit more special occasion. Luchetti Krelle will do the interior, which will have a fair bit of timber like [Longrain] in Sydney and Melbourne," Christie explains.

The restaurateur says Australian restaurants are plugging holes in the Tokyo dining scene. "The Japanese have a real thirst for the new. The freshness and smart casualness of our restaurants is attractive to them," he adds.