From Japan to London: A conversation with Founder Mr Taro, Taro
When Mr Taro first arrived in London in 1979, he was captivated by a city alive with punk, reggae, multiculturalism and a small but growing Japanese community. Twenty years later, he opened his first Taro restaurant on Soho’s Brewer Street, beginning a journey that has now grown to 11 locations across London and the South East.
Following the opening of Taro Holloway, The Knife speaks to the founder about bringing the Japanese spirit of Taishu Shokudo to London, how British attitudes towards Japanese food have transformed, finding the right neighbourhoods, the dish he could never take off the menu and what he would feed th Arsenal football team…
You first came to London in 1979 and opened the first Taro 20 years later. What do you remember most vividly about that first trip to the city?
It was very exciting for me because London felt so culturally different from Japan. I remember there was a real energy in the city, punk, reggae, the Notting Hill Carnival, and so many different cultures coming together. It felt like anything could happen.
At that time, you were also starting to see a small Japanese community developing in London, with a few Japanese restaurants and businesses appearing around Soho and the centre of the city. For me, that was very special. It gave me a little feeling of home.
The West End and Soho were also very different then. They were much less developed and less gentrified than they are today, and the streets, nightlife and restaurants had a very different atmosphere. But there was this excitement that I really loved.
I could never have imagined then that, 20 years later, I would open my first Taro in this part of London. And I certainly could not have imagined that we would still be here all these years later, very much part of the Soho community!
When you opened Brewer Street in 1999, did you ever imagine there would one day be 11 Taro restaurants or was the ambition simply to make the first one work?
We wanted to take things step by step. For me, it was always about finding the right location, having the right people and serving the best food we could. If that took time, then it took time. We didn’t want to rush.
I wanted to be proud of what we were doing and to give people a genuine Japanese dining experience. But I did have a bigger dream, which was to introduce the food of my homeland to more people. I am very proud to be Japanese, and I wanted to share that culture and food with as many people as possible.
Looking back now, I think it has happened little by little. One restaurant became another, and those small steps have become something much bigger, which makes me very proud.
Taro is built around the Japanese idea of Taishu Shokudo – an everyday dining room. What does an "everyday restaurant" mean to you personally?
For me, an everyday dining room really means a dining room for everyone. That is at the very heart of Taro. You can come by solo, as a couple, with your family or with friends, everyone is welcome.
Japanese food and culture should be for everyone. We want Taro to be somewhere people can come regularly, feel comfortable and enjoy good Japanese food without feeling that it is only for a special occasion.
When you walk through the door at Taro, our staff greet you with irasshaimase, the traditional Japanese welcome. It is more than just saying hello. It comes from deep within our culture. We want you to feel that you are being welcomed into our home.
That is what Taishu Shokudo means to me. You are not just a customer coming into a restaurant. You are our guest, and when you are at Taro, you are family.
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the way Londoners eat and understand Japanese food?
Confidence and knowledge of our customers has increased enormously. When we first started, some people were nervous about Japanese food. They worried about using chopsticks, trying sake, or even saying the names of dishes correctly. Now it is very different.
People are much more adventurous and excited to try different Japanese dishes, including regional food that they may not have experienced before. They will come into Taro and say, "I tried this when I was in Japan," or tell us about a sake they have discovered.
More and more people have also travelled to Japan themselves. They come back with memories of the food, the culture and the hospitality, and they enjoy talking to our staff about where they went and what they did and ate.
I really love that. In some way, when they come to Taro, they are bringing a little bit of their holiday in Japan back with them and perhaps we are giving them a little piece of Japan here in London.
Holloway is the latest Taro neighbourhood. What was it about the area that made you think, "Yes, we belong here"?
We really loved the area because it feels like a true neighbourhood, with a community in the middle with a lot of families, students and local people, and that is exactly what we mean when we talk about an everyday dining room.
Taro is not just a restaurant that happens to be in a neighbourhood. We want to be part of the neighbourhood. We want to be the dining room for the people and communities around us, somewhere for a bento lunch, dinner, a quick takeaway or to celebrate with family and friends.
Holloway also has such a wonderful energy. You have the Emirates Stadium nearby, Nag’s Head Market and so many different people coming together. We are very proud that Taro Holloway is our 11th restaurant, and even more excited that we can become part of this community.
You’ve created an Arsenal Special Roll for the new restaurant. Be honest: are you now an Arsenal supporter, or is this strictly good neighbourly diplomacy?
I think it is a bit of both. We have lots of Arsenal fans among our staff, so it felt only right to create something special for the local community.
Actually, every Taro has a special roll. It has become a little tradition for us. We take inspiration from the local area, sometimes from the culture, a local story or even ingredients, and create something that is unique to that restaurant.
For Holloway, with the Emirates Stadium just nearby, Arsenal was an obvious inspiration so we had to do a sushi roll.
If you were feeding the Arsenal team before a big match, what would you put on the table?
Of course, I would put our bento on the table! There is something for everyone in a bento, fresh sushi and sashimi, vegetables, Japanese rice and miso soup. It is filling, fresh and gives you everything you need to build up power before the game.
And it is served in our beautiful traditional black and red lacquer boxes, so it looks very special too.
Taro now has plenty of favourites that customers return for again and again. Which dish would cause the biggest revolt if you ever tried to take it off the menu?
It has to be our Chicken Teriyaki Don. It has been one of our signature dishes for many years and is a real favourite with our customers.
We grill and deep-fry the chicken and serve it with stir-fried cabbage, onion, carrots, beansprouts and green pepper, all with our teriyaki sauce, alongside Japanese rice.
It is one of those dishes that really represents Taro for me. It is comforting, full of flavour and something people come back to many times.
And what’s your own order when you sit down at Taro??
My own order is the Kumamoto Tonkotsu. Kumamoto is my hometown in Japan, so this ramen always gives me a taste of home. It has a rich pork bone soup with black garlic oil and fried garlic, chashu pork and nitamago and nori. It is a very comforting bowl of ramen. Sometimes I miss home, and when I eat this, it makes me feel warm. It brings back memories of Kumamoto for me.
We also have a photograph of me and my family in every Taro restaurant, so wherever I am, I am never really too far from home, even if sometimes it feels that way. And I think we are coming into perfect ramen weather in the UK now. When it is cold outside, there is nothing better than ramen.
With 11 restaurants and more than 200 people now in the team, how do you keep Taro feeling like the warm, approachable restaurant you originally set out to create?
For me, it is very important to stay close to the restaurants and the people who work in them. I go to all our restaurants regularly and I still work on the floor. I like to say hello to the staff, speak to our guests and see what is happening.
When we open a new Taro, I always try to be there. I have been to Brighton, Catford and now Holloway, and sometimes I like to arrive and surprise our guests. I enjoy being part of the opening.
Of course, training is very important, but I also believe you need the right people. The people who work at Taro have something special. They understand that hospitality is about making people feel welcome and at home.
The Taro team really is like family to me. Some people have been with me for decades, and some have even become business partners. That means a lot to me. When you have that kind of family around you, the feeling of Taro naturally continues from one restaurant to the next.
And I like to have fun with our guests too. I have even been known to do karaoke with guests in Soho, but only on very special occasions.
You’ve opened in places including Walthamstow, Crystal Palace, Brentwood and now Holloway. Do you have a particular instinct for spotting a neighbourhood before everyone else does?
I think it is something you feel. After so many years, you develop an instinct for it, but it really comes down to that indescribable feeling of community.
When I walk down a street, I look for warmth. You see the local grocers greeting people as they walk past, families together, children coming home from school, commuters getting off the train, there is a buzz and a feeling that people know each other.
It reminds me of Japan in some ways. That sense of the local community, where people look out for each other and welcome you when you arrive. When I feel that warmth in a neighbourhood I think, yes Taro could belong here.
For me, it really is heart to heart. You cannot always put it into numbers. You have to walk the streets, meet the people and feel the neighbourhood.
After more than two decades of Taro, what still gives you the biggest buzz: opening a new restaurant, seeing a packed dining room, or watching someone discover one of your dishes for the first time?
The biggest buzz is welcoming the same customers back time after time. Over the years, you get to know their stories. You see them grow up, get married, have children, and then they come back and bring their own children to Taro.
That gives me the greatest sense of achievement and pride, when someone who first came to Taro many years ago brings their family. It means we have created something more than just a restaurant. We have become part of their lives and their memories.
Of course, opening a new Taro is always very exciting, seeing the doors open for the first time and meeting our new neighbours.
And sometimes there are very special moments that you never expect. We were very honoured when the sumo wrestlers came to Taro Soho, that was magical.
