{"id":793292,"date":"2026-05-13T11:13:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/793292\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T11:13:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:13:15","slug":"where-to-eat-like-a-new-yorker-in-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/793292\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to Eat Like a New Yorker in Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"

In late 2024, Brooklyn lost Buttermilk Channel<\/a>, the long-standing Cobble Hill brunch spot that, for the 16 years it sold house-fermented pickles and cheddar waffles, had punched far above its weight in both awareness and exposure. Regulars were understandably upset by the closing, but as it turns out, this was not the end of Buttermilk Channel\u2019s story. The restaurant and its waffles live on \u2026 in Tokyo<\/a>. So, somehow, does Cafe Gitane<\/a>, the 30-year-old institution for Nolita scenesters that\u2019s on life support in its hometown<\/a>. There\u2019s just one Gitane in Tokyo, but City Bakery serves its famous hot chocolate and pretzel croissants at dozens of locations<\/a> in Japan.<\/p>\n

The fantasy of \u201csomewhere else\u201d will always be a strong marketing tactic. Tokyoites go to Buttermilk Channel to feel like they\u2019re in New York the same way Brooklynites go to Ichiran<\/a> to feel like they\u2019re eating tonkotsu ramen in Japan. But a restaurant doesn\u2019t have to be from even one city for the illusion to work. This is the case at New York Grill<\/a>, the low-lit dining room immortalized in Americans\u2019 minds as the backdrop to a budding romance in Lost in Translation. When the Park Hyatt Tokyo, where the restaurant is located, closed it for renovations, the goal was to make the restaurant, which has never actually existed in New York, even New Yorkier.<\/p>\n

Walking in now feels a lot like walking into Sofia Coppola\u2019s 2003 film: A jazz singer is set against skyscrapers while an even mix of Japanese diners and tourists sip drinks. The restaurant feels contained not only within the film but in the late \u201990s and early aughts. I rewatched the movie after eating here and found it hard to believe the place had been renovated at all. It helps that the original painter hired for the project, Valerio Adami, is still alive and could easily be phoned in to touch up the sun-faded 52nd-floor murals depicting the Rainbow Room, Carnegie Hall, and Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n

On the menu, staples like Caesar salad and shrimp cocktail with Thousand Island dressing remain, with much of the food options unchanged from 1994\u2019s opening menu. But during renovations, executive chefs Thibault Chiumenti and Ben Wheeler did take a trip to New York to assess the current steakhouse scene. They visited Keens<\/a> and Gallaghers<\/a> (but skipped Peter Luger since there\u2019s one of those in Tokyo<\/a>) as well as restaurants such as Gramercy Tavern<\/a> that opened at the same time as the New York Grill (of course, they could have gone to Union Square Tokyo<\/a>, Gramercy Tavern\u2019s sister restaurant in Japan). They also stopped in to Simon Kim\u2019s Cote<\/a> and Daniel Boulud\u2019s La T\u00eate d\u2019Or<\/a> and returned to Tokyo wanting to make one major change in the kitchen: adding a broiler. \u201cWe feel it is important to have very high temperature cooking,\u201d says Chiumenti. \u201cAnd it tastes nicer.\u201d The change meant the team could add USDA-graded American beef \u2014 often larger than Japanese cuts \u2014 to the menu, a move that is far more complicated than it sounds. \u201cIt was very difficult to import beef,\u201d Chiumenti says, \u201cespecially here in Japan. The Japanese are very proud of their beef.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if you never plan to visit Tokyo, New York Grill is worth knowing about because it honors a New York that never really existed, certainly one that doesn\u2019t exist now. This steakhouse overlooks Shinjuku Central Park, while the only steakhouse where diners could peer into Manhattan\u2019s Central Park \u2014 Porter House Bar & Grill \u2014 closed<\/a> last year. Maybe one of those could open in Tokyo next.<\/p>\n

EAT LIKE THE EXPERTS.<\/p>\n

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