❖ Meet at Shijo-mae Station

06:30 - 06:45 (15 min)

Meet your host and the chef at the ticket gate of Shijo-mae Station at 06:30. After a short briefing on the morning ahead, you head straight into Toyosu Market through the professional entry reserved for the trade.

❖ Toyosu Market - Restricted Wholesale Floor

06:45 - 07:30 (45 min)

Step onto the working floor normally reserved for licensed buyers. The chef shows you how professionals read seafood: seasonality, fat content, texture, species and origin. You meet the specialised vendors who supply Tokyo's leading restaurants and watch real negotiations play out between buyer and seller.

❖ Ingredient Discovery and Selection

07:30 - 08:15 (45 min)

The second pass through the market is hands-on. Working directly with the chef, you choose the seafood that will become your meal: depending on the morning's catch, that might mean bluefin tuna, sea urchin, rare seasonal fish, shellfish and crustaceans. Your selections set the menu.

❖ Vegetable and Dry Goods Wholesale Area

08:15 - 08:45 (30 min)

A walk through the adjacent vegetable and dry goods sections completes the picture of how a Tokyo kitchen sources its larder: seasonal produce, aged rice, artisanal soy sauces and specialist pantry items that rarely reach a retail shelf.

❖ Transfer to the Private Chef's Table

08:45 - 09:30 (30 min)

Your host arranges a taxi or Uber to restaurant 81 in Shirokane, the elegant neighbourhood whose main avenue is known as Platinum Street, and briefs the driver; the host travels separately by motorcycle and meets you at the door. The transfer takes roughly twenty to thirty minutes depending on traffic. The fare (approximately ¥4,000) is settled directly with the driver by card.

❖ Preparation and Cooking Session

09:30 - 10:30 (1:00 h)

Here you are welcomed into the kitchen rather than seated in the dining room. The chef introduces the ingredients you selected and the techniques he will use on them: fish breakdown, Japanese and international knife work, the choice between raw, cured, aged or cooked, and the logic of seasoning, timing and temperature. The session is interactive and genuinely instructive.

❖ Private Tasting at the Chef's Table

10:30 - 11:30 (1:00 h)

With preparation complete, you take your place at the counter for a multi-course meal built entirely from your market choices. Courses typically open with sashimi and lightly cured preparations, then move through grilled or warm dishes with seasonal accompaniments. Each plate is presented and explained by the chef as it lands.

Our Chef and Guide

Paco La Monica - Executive Chef at 81. With a career spanning some of the world's most acclaimed kitchens, Paco brings a deep well of global experience and culinary insight. Trained at Noma (Copenhagen), Gaggan (Bangkok), and KOKS (Faroe Islands). In Japan he co-managed a boutique hotel in Nagano and studied kaiseki at Satoyama Jujo. Former Sous Chef at Gucci Osteria Ginza and Executive Chef at the American Club Tokyo, where he led the kitchen build and opening from scratch. Now co-leading the next chapter of restaurant 81, developing new culinary horizons between Tokyo and Niseko.

Alessio Gorni - Brand Engagement at 81. With a multidisciplinary background spanning fine arts, event production and hospitality, Alessio has worked across Europe, Australia and Japan, building a career at the intersection of creativity and communication. From opening a community-oriented pizza store in his hometown to high-performing PR and sales roles in Japan, he co-founded a platform for creative avant-garde art experiences in Tokyo and now bridges vision with execution for 81, connecting concept and experience to partners and clients.