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From the Kitchen
3 min read
Ryohei Sagara
A Morning at Toyosu
What our buyer looks for at the auction, and why we buy three times a week.
At 5:30 in the morning a bell rings on the tuna floor at Toyosu, and the room goes quiet for about a second. Then the bidding starts in hand signals, and a fish worth more than a car changes hands in under a minute.
We aren’t in that room. Our buyer is, and what he sends us decides the next three nights of the menu.
Why we buy through a wholesaler
Restaurants can’t bid at Toyosu. Only licensed wholesalers can, and they sell on to chefs and shops from stalls in the same building. Ours has worked the same corner of the market for three generations.
He knows our counter, our grill and what ran out last week. When he calls, it’s late afternoon in New York, and he rings with two or three fish he thinks we should take, not a price list.
From Tokyo to Kenmare Street
Toyosu is a long way from Nolita, so timing matters more than distance. A normal week runs like this:
5:30 a.m. in Tokyo. The auction starts and our buyer bids or picks from his stall.
Late morning. The fish is packed in ice and driven to the airport.
That evening. It flies to Newark, about thirteen hours in the hold.
Next morning in New York. Customs, then a van to Kenmare Street by ten.
That night. It’s on the counter, or resting in the cold for later.
A fish bought on Tuesday morning in Tokyo is on a plate on Wednesday night.
What he looks for
Tuna
Every tuna at the auction has a cut at the tail. Buyers shine a torch on it, press the flesh with a finger and read the colour and the line of fat. That small cross-section is all anyone gets to see before bidding.
White fish and silver fish
These come from the stalls, not the auction floor. He checks the eyes and the gills and smells the belly, the same way we check sanma at the back door.
“When the box is opened, we can tell in a minute whether he had a good morning.”
Daisuke Ono, kitchen chef at Sushi Sagara
A word on price
Price is only one part of the decision. Our buyer weighs quality, season and value, selecting fish that suits the way we cook.
Three boxes a week
Three deliveries a week let us respond to the market and choose when each fish is ready to serve.
Day | What comes | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
Tuesday | Tuna and shellfish | Counter and dining room |
Thursday | White and silver fish | Counter and grill |
Saturday | The week’s best catch | Counter only |
Local boats fill the gaps: fluke from Montauk, scallops and uni from Maine.
See it for yourself
In Tokyo, the viewing gallery above the tuna floor opens to visitors early; get there before six. In New York, sit at the counter on a Wednesday and ask what came in on Tuesday’s box.
Book a seat at the counter and we’ll tell you where every piece came from.
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