09 Dec We’re celebrating our 5th birthday this year!

TOKYO BIRD IS 5 YEARS OLD THIS YEAR!

Twas the day before Christmas eve, when all through the bar, everything was a-stirring ‘cos we’d just gotten all our regulatory and compliance pieces to open! So the five of us opened our very first small bar to the public on Christmas Eve 2014!

Tokyo Bird, early 2015

It wasn’t an ideal date but we’d had the lease on the Belmore Lane space since the beginning of the year and we were so SO ready to sling some drinks.

It was a quiet opening as things go, with Yoshi and Jason behind the bar. That was until Boxing Day – officially Day 2. With a couple of friends’ functions booked in, we quickly discovered what capacity in the small bar was and how much more Japanese whisky we’d need – not a lot and a LOT more, respectively.

House of Suntory Takeover, August 2015

We had plenty of ups & downs in the first year, including our first ever World Whisky Day (where we ran out of glassware and were serving whisky in flutes) and our first event with our mates at Suntory, the five week House of Suntory Takeover.

That year also saw a Yamazaki single malt whisky crowned World’s Best Whisky and the ensuing Japanese whisky boom, and also the pause on production of many age statement Japanese whiskies (still wishing we’d kept a few bottles of Hibiki 12 from those days…). It was the best and worst of times!

Osaka Trading Co. at Tramsheds, pre-opening September 2016

We grew into a huge World Whisky Week in May 2016, scrambling through our Japanese sources to sate your thirst for Japanese whisky. It was an exciting year that was highlighted by an offer to open a second venue; and thus was born our modern Japanese eatery Osaka Trading Co. at Tramsheds, opened in September 2016 with Bodega as neighbours – just like in Surry Hills!

The next year was a big one at Tramsheds, bedding down what we were doing in a pretty different market to Surry Hills (the demand for high chairs and pram space is real). It’s kind of what we wanted though; as our friends and customers started marrying off and having babies, a kid-friendly space let our parent friends rejoin our world and vice versa.

At the same time, we were growing Tokyo Bird as much as we could in our little space. We did in fact grow into the next door café in 2018, with a whole new 28 seats and events space, including our first pop-up bar with Suntory’s Roku Gin. (Watch this space next year for exciting changes!)

Banchō, opened November 2018

And to add growth on growth, in late 2018 we also opened Sydney Chinatown’s first proper cocktail and whisky-focused small bar – the realisation of a pre-Tokyo Bird vision when we were scouting Sydney’s laneways for potential spaces.

We’re proud to be in Chinatown (check out this piece in SMH last year) and to be bringing a young, modern Asian-Australian vibe to an area steeped in Sydney history of our grandparents’ time and beyond. And just like us, Banchō represents not only the Chinese community in Sydney, but Japanese, Malaysian, Cambodian, Korean, Indonesian and other Asian cultures.

Nikkei Bar & Restaurant, now open at 216 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills

This brings us to 2019 and another huge year of change and growth. Tokyo Bird, like the eldest child, forges ahead and does its thing, making plenty of new friends along the way. The younger siblings are following its lead but finding their own personalities too, borrowing a few friends, staff members, equipment and other things on the way.

And then along comes the newest baby of the family, a somewhat unexpected but nonetheless adored new addition: Nikkei Bar & Restaurant, opened in November 2019 (see post here) around the corner from Tokyo Bird.

Tokyo Bird, June 2016

Five years, five venues – it’s actually a bit nuts for a small, tightly held company like us. We’re so grateful to have met and served so many of you over the last five years at Tokyo Bird; celebrating with you, commiserating with you and just talking sh!t with you – some of you from the very beginning!

You saw our back bar of whisky grow upwards, downwards then lengthways. You sang ‘happy birthday’ when our power used to cut out mid-service. You’ve kept the likes of our Smoked Hunter, Black Star Martini and Yuzu Spritz cocktails unmoved from our menus. You saw us grow then move our tiny kitchen out of the bar. And you’ve definitely seen us age over the years, joined by new friendly faces that come and sometimes go.

And oh boy, the stories we (and you) have! We’ve seen first dates return for annual anniversary dates; singles then having their engagement parties with us; and even buck’s return for dinners at our restaurants with toddlers in tow. We’ve hosted milestone birthdays, corporate classes, a billion Tinder dates, pre-drinks, post-drinks, drink drinks, and so many good times with mates. And we’ve definitely turned more than a few non-whisky drinkers into legit whisky lovers.

Back to where it all started, Tokyo Bird 2015

We’ve done it all with the love and support of you, our fabulous guests. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and whisky bottles. Thank you for liking and sharing what we do and so ardently supporting what we do by eating, drinking and enjoying Tokyo Bird with us.

Massive thanks also to our network of suppliers, especially those who’ve been with us since Day 1: Asahi Premium Beverages, Franc About Wine, Beam Suntory, Daiwa Foods, JFC and others. And thanks to all the staff who have worked with Jason, Yoshi, Tina and Chris over the years – you know we couldn’t have done any of it without you.

We’re celebrating this massive half decade milestone this year with a round on us! Make sure you Like us on Facebook and we’ll see you during birthday week to celebrate our fifth year together!

Lots of love, whisky, cocktails & yakitori,
from Jason, Yoshi, Chris & Tina