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want to meet at fmd_good Brew Lab
want to meet at fmd_good Vintage Avenue
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How to get there to open a Restaurant - if you are poor?
Unfortunatly i am a full orphan from the "slums" and money - Well forget it These Days… Hey there Goys and Birls, I am a Chef from Germany and dreaming ever since of opening an own Business in Japan.
Unfortunatly i am a full orphan from the "slums" and money - Well forget it These Days in Germany.
Is there even a Chance and if so, how?
honestly if you're dead broke your best bet is working in a kitchen here first. lots of places in shinjuku or shibuya will hire foreign cooks if you can show up and prove you can handle the pace. you'll learn the suppliers, the systems, and save enough to maybe split a tiny yakitori spot in some back alley in shitamachi like nishiarai or higashi-mukojima. rent there is still cheapish for tokyo, like 150k yen a month for a hole in the wall. just don't expect a loan from any bank here without years of tax records.
the visa is the real wall, not the money. you need a "business manager" visa which requires 5 million yen in capital, a proper office lease, and a detailed business plan submitted to immigration. without that cash upfront, you cant legally open anything. some people do the "start as a student" route - get a student visa, work part time in kitchens, save every yen for 2 years, then try to scrape together the capital. shin-okachimachi area has cheap produce markets where restaurant owners buy at 4am, hang around there and make friends with suppliers before you even have a place
Ramen stand, my friend. Start small, build a reputation. Tokyo's a tough market, but hungry bellies are everywhere.
Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.
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