{"id":22818,"date":"2026-05-15T06:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T06:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/22818\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T06:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T06:27:09","slug":"tokyos-most-famous-pizzeria-opens-in-sydney-with-1000-reservations-already-booked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/22818\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokyo\u2019s most famous pizzeria opens in Sydney with 1000 reservations already booked"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good luck getting a table for the opening weekend of Studio Tamaki\u2019s first Australian store, with hundreds of pizza fans fighting to be among first Sydneysiders to try its signature slice.<\/p>\n

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Tsubasa Tamaki tried 700 different flour blends over 18 years before he was happy with his pizza dough. The Tokyo-based chef\u2019s dedication has made him globally famous and Sydney diners will get a taste of his slices when the first Australian branch of Pizza Studio Tamaki opens Saturday May 16 in the CBD.<\/p>\n

\"PizzaPizza chef Tsubasa Tamaki at his new Sydney restaurant. Edwina Pickles<\/p>\n

Step into the 78-seat pizzeria and you might see balls of 30-hour-fermented dough being prepped for service. You may also glimpse mineral-rich salt sourced from Japan\u2019s Okinawa prefecture, Tamaki\u2019s birthplace. The chef is known for throwing these crystals into the wood-fired oven and placing his dough on top. \u201cThat way, the salt sticks to the underside whilst it\u2019s baking,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, whole cherry tomatoes on his signature \u201cTamaki\u201d pizza generate maximum flavour impact. Diners are meant to fork-smash the tomatoes so they splash oven-intensified flavours over the pizza\u2019s other toppings of smoked mozzarella and pecorino cheese. \u201cIt just tastes better when you crush it,\u201d Tamaki says.<\/p>\n

His namesake pizza began as an attempt to break down barriers with customers. \u201cIf they remember the name, we can become friends, you know?\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe margherita at Pizza Studio Tamaki in Sydney.Edwina Pickles<\/p>\n

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But his name now resonates with an audience much larger than the local following he amassed at the first Pizza Studio Tamaki he opened in 2017 in Tokyo. He\u2019s since received recognition from the Michelin Guide and global top pizza lists, and was named \u201cone of the most talked-about pizzaioli in the world\u201d by The New York Times. A New York branch of Studio Tamaki launched in early May, too, and it was immediately booked out for a month.<\/p>\n

There has been a similar response in Sydney, with more than 1000 reservations for Studio Tamaki already, and Saturday\u2019s services are fully booked. (Walk-in customers can still try their luck at the door, however.) The George Street site near Wynyard Station is Tamaki\u2019s biggest global outpost to date. <\/p>\n

Sydneysiders will have to wait until summer to try the \u201cTomato Shaved Ice Pizza\u201d, but otherwise the Pizza Studio Tamaki menu here will reflect the dough-stretched offerings available globally. <\/p>\n

\"TamakiTamaki tests his new Sydney oven, three days before opening. Edwina Pickles<\/p>\n

His magnificently light bases \u2013 topped with pork sausage and egg for the \u201cBismarck\u201d pizza and five cheeses sweetened with honey for his \u201cCinque Formaggi\u201d \u2013 are blistered and charred along the ridge of the crust, a hallmark of the Tokyo pizza style. There is also talk of developing Australian specials with seasonal seafood: Tamaki was especially impressed with what was available at the Sydney Fish Market during a previous visit.<\/p>\n

Kaizen Food Group is the company responsible for running the restaurant in Australia (it brought Japan\u2019s queue-attracting Mensho Tokyo to Sydney in 2024) and shipping Tamaki\u2019s signature flour blend and Okinawan salt from Japan. The chef is in Sydney for the opening week, but two assistants from Pizza Studio Tamaki in Japan \u2013 Okashiro Takuma and Tomoki Suzuki \u2013 will stay on to work at the restaurant, with local head chef Steven Setiawan overseeing the kitchen day-to-day. <\/p>\n

Good Food can also reveal there are plans for more Studio Tamaki locations in Melbourne and other Australian cities. According to a Kaizen Food Group spokesperson, \u201cThis is just the first one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dinner daily<\/p>\n

259 George Street, Sydney, instagram.com\/pst.australia<\/a><\/p>\n

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