Big in Japan: Editor-turned-mixologist Holly Graham on changing the Tokyo drinking scene with her new cocktail bar

The author of 'Cocktails of Asia' and managing editor of Drink Magazine Asia unveils her first brick-and-mortar hospitality venue in the Japanese capital

A force of nature on the international bar scene, peripatetic drinks writer and cocktail book author Holly Graham is set to open her first brick-and-mortar venue in the form of Tokyo Confidential. Having toured the globe in recent months to introduce her bar concept to audiences from Singapore to Sydney, Graham sat down with Tatler before her recent move to Tokyo to recount her journey to bar ownership, what to expect on her menu, and the peculiarities of Japanese bar culture.

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How did you end up opening a bar in Japan?

In October last year, I got a message on LinkedIn from my now business partner looking for someone to consult on a bar. I’m very much about the vibe check, so I had this call with him and my gut feeling was just so good.

We went out [to Tokyo] in October, met them all and had an amazing time. They saw that I'm pretty well connected in Japan, so they were reassured that I'm not going in blind. Originally, Tom [Egerton, Holly's husband] and I weren't gonna move, but then the goal posts changed with conversations about ownership. I don't really know what the defining moment was when we [decided], but someone was willing to sponsor a work visa for us, which is really hard, so why not? Hong Kong will always be home, and we can always come back.

Above The interiors of Tokyo Confidential (Photo: Millie Tang)

What's the story behind the bar concept?

There's a lot of concept-heavy bars out there, so I didn't want to be boxed in. I've taken so many learnings from all my travels over the last few years and from mentors and friends like Tom and Beckaly [Franks, founder of The Pontiac]. I've always loved the atmosphere of places like [The Pontiac's sister bar] Call Me Al, which is very convivial and casual. You can come dressed up or you could come in your activewear, but it still offers a high-quality product: good food, good wine, good cocktails.

All I ever wanted to create in a bar was just somewhere that wasn't pretentious, but still made you feel nice. We’ve got this amazing view of Tokyo Tower, which is a radio tower, so I started to think about what that meant. The radio tower is obviously like a beacon of communication and I started thinking about how Japanese bars aren’t really a place for communication.

[In Tokyo] there aren't these convivial places where you can go and hang out and have fun. It's very much about going and watching the bartender do beautiful bartending. You don't really speak to anyone, you don't speak to your partner, you don't speak to the bartender, so I wanted to break that barrier and make a space for communication.

I also want it to be like a safe, inclusive space, because whilst Japan is progressive, people there don’t really shout about the fact that they're queer or things like that. I want people to be able to close the door and just cut loose, to be who they want to be.

We've got an S-shaped bar, and much like The Old Man and The Savory Project, we've broken the barrier so anyone can stand where they want. If you’re bartending there, I can stand next to you, because that's not something that's offered in Japan and it encourages more communication.

Clue us into the drinks programme.

Drinks-wise, my head bartender has mostly taken the lead on that. We're showcasing under-used Japanese ingredients like awamori and doburoku sake. Because Tokyo Confidential was such a contrast, she's done her drinks and then I'm doing my drinks, some of which have Japanese ingredients, but they're more influenced by people like my mentors.

I hate to say they're influenced by travels because that sounds cliche but they are. It's more like I saw this happen in this bar in America and I thought that was cool and I want to recreate that. It's a mish-mash. Wakana Murata is my head bartender and she and I both love agave and champagne, so we’ve got a focus on that as just a cheeky way for us to be able to drink champagne whenever we want.

Above The Tokyo Confidential team (Photo: Millie Tang)

Your bar is located in Azabu-Juban which is a ritzier part of town. Why this neighbourhood?

It's essentially Embassy Road. We didn't choose the space but I was very lucky that my partners found it.

One of my mentors is Shingo Gokan and the two main pieces of advice he gave to me was do something different—which I am—and also to aim for the foreigners, because they're the ones that will spend the money and they'll stick around, especially in that neighbourhood. Even though it's a glitzy neighbourhood, the bar is like me: it likes nice things, but it's still a little bit ratchet as well.

Do you have any concerns about entering the Japanese bar industry?

My team is Japanese and I'm very lucky that it seems like there are a lot of bartenders that don't want to do Japanese bartending, but they don't want to leave Japan.

Wakana lived in Singapore, my venue manager lived in New York for a bit, and one of my other bartenders lived in London, so they've all had a taste of the outside world and they've said that it's quite hard for them to find something [in Japan] that's not very traditional.

I'm hoping there's this new generation of Japanese bartenders and Japanese people that are looking for something different, and I think it's a good time especially after the pandemic as things are changing a little bit anyway.

Of course, I have concerns—I'm not going to sit here and be like, this will be a success. When you’re working in any culture that’s different, you're going to experience difficulties, but I've got a solid team behind me that is Japanese and international enough that we've found a good balance.

Above Destroy All Monsters (Photo: Millie Tang)

You're leaving Hong Kong after nine years. What will you miss the most about the city and the community?

The bar industry and the food. On the one hand, I will miss walking down the street and saying hi to everyone, but on the other hand I kind of won’t miss that as well. A bit more privacy I think will be nice, but Hong Kong will always be home—luckily it's only four hours from Japan.

I think the Japanese bar community is amazing, but I just don't think it's the same network that we have in Hong Kong. In fact, I don't really see it anywhere—Singapore to an extent, but look at the support that you and I have gotten as people who weren't bartenders.

There's so much love here and there's no bullshit. I don't find there's much competitiveness [here], but I'm very lucky to have the backing of people like Shingo [Gokan], [Hidetsugu] Ueno-san [owner of Bar High Five], and [Hiroyasu] Kayama-san [founder of Bar Benfiddich]. I made an effort to be friends with these people way before I even knew this was happening, so having these veteran Japanese bartenders [support me] makes me feel good about it.

When are you opening?

The 11th of October is the target date. It will be scary—I can't believe I'm moving countries and opening a bar—but we’ve got such a solid team. We've also got Daniel Calvert as our consulting chef. Daniel's become a mentor as well as a Brit who's lived in Hong Kong, who's moved to Japan and found great success, and I've always been a huge fan of his since he was at Belon. Avengers assemble!

Tokyo Confidential
Address: 9F, The V-city Azabujuban Place, 6-1 Azabujuban 1-Chome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. tokyoconfidential.com

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Holly Graham Tokyo Confidential Tokyo

Tatler Asia

Big in Japan: Editor-turned-mixologist Holly Graham on changing the Tokyo drinking scene with her new cocktail bar