A Yakitori and Sake Bar with an Ex-Yardbird Chef Is Coming to Richmond

The duo behind Melbourne's sake brand Toji Sake is bringing a new taste of Japan to Richmond next month. Founders Shar and Yuta Kobayashi have joined forces with chef Dan Chan (Cumulus Up, Supernormal Canteen), who recently completed a stint at Hong Kong's highly lauded yakitori restaurant Yardbird, to open Eazy Peazy.

The 100-seat restaurant is slated to open along Swan Street in early July, and, when it does, it'll be dishing up food inspired by both Australia and Japan, as well as sake cocktails.

Kobayashi's Australian-Japanese roots and Chan's experience cooking Japanese fare have both influenced the menu, which focuses on izakaya-style snacks, such as yakitori, and dishes cooked on a hibachi (a Japanese charcoal grill). Expect the likes of duck gyoza with shiso and salted plum, kingfish sashimi with smoked daikon and cheesy beef croquettes. Bigger items might include crispy chicken skin fried rice, wagyu sirloin and baked sesame meringue with yuzu sorbet for dessert.

Behind the restaurant's long concrete bar, you'll, of course, find a few Toji Sake concoctions. The brand's crisp junmai ginjo and high-grade junmai daiginjo sakes will feature in a selection of cocktails, and a mostly Australian wine list will round out the drinks offering.

Maegan Brown

The fit-out, by award-winning Melbourne firm Carr Design, is meant to fuse traditional Japanese elements with modern touches. Think interior walls representing the rice fields of the Niigata Prefecture, a snow-like ceiling reminiscent of the Asahi mountain ranges and doors that look like raked sand in a zen garden. These elements will be juxtaposed with projections of Tokyo's famed Shibuya Crossing and Japanese cartoon figurines used as handbag hooks.

Find Eazy Peazy at 108 Swan Street, Richmond from July 11. Opening hours are Monday through Wednesday 5.30pm–late and Thursday through Sunday noon–late.

Images: Hortenzia and Maegan Brown