Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers inspire Kid Kyoto menu

Medical doctor and BRW young rich lister Sam Prince opens Kid Kyoto restaurant on Monday, November 20 and admits to a few uncharacteristic nerves ahead of the launch.

"I've done close to 200 launches, but with Zambrero (his Mexican fast food chain) it's a proven product, this is a new thing," Prince says.

The Japanese restaurant (near Mr Wong on Bridge Lane) has plenty of eye candy with its three-metre-high neon-lit art works and 10-seat chef's table, but it's the philosophy behind the restaurant that is most intriguing.

Just as Prince took inspiration from the communities where he did aid work in India for his Indu restaurant, it's Prince's passion for music that has driven Kid Kyoto.

The entrepreneur has a music studio in his office where the sound track to Kid Kyoto took root.

"We spent a month in there, Zambrero has its own in-house DJ and music producer," Prince says.

"I haven't thought about this as opening a restaurant but as creating an album."

And it's the soundtrack of his youth – Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers driving the "alternative" Japanese menu.

The "darkness" of the Soundgarden song Black Hole Sun helped inspire the restaurant's pork belly dish. Head chef Seb Gee says writing the menu has been both unusual and inspiring.

"Fortunately Sam and I have the same taste in music," Gee says. If you look closely you might see Red Hot Chili Peppers inspiration in the wok-smoked mushrooms with walnut miso and barilla.

The duo is already thinking about the next menu. "There's a lot of underground punk in Japan we could tap into," Prince says. "It's the first drink or taste that raises your heart rate."

Open Mon-Fri noon-3pm & 5pm-late, Sat noon-late,

17-19 Bridge Street (enter via Bridge Lane), kidkyoto.com.au.