The newly-opened Hiroshi Japanese restaurant in Silicon Valley represents the pinnacle of tech executive opulence.
In Los Altos, California, is a restaurant with no windows, no menu, and only a single table that will never seat more than eight guests in an evening. Its owner, Hiroshi Kimura, provides Silicon Valley with “a wagyu steak experience like none other.”
The dining experience is, in Chef Kimura’s words, “uncompromising from start to finish.” It begins with a selection of “the best quality wagyu meat,” ordered weekly from Japan and hand-selected for use by Kimura himself. It is then served in a space that is “private and intimate yet relaxing,” curated by Kimura all the way down to the specific choice of glasses, utensils, and even water.
Dinner is served on a table crafted from an 800-year-old Japanese keyaki tree, which had to be delivered by crane, and the restaurant’s walls were constructed around it after its installation. The wagyu steaks — or Kobe, as they are known by other sources — are delivered hot, thinly pre-sliced, on a platter of fragrant wood, with a side of white asparagus and ponzu sauce. Gold flaking on the exquisite cuts of meat gleams in the low light, reinforcing the decadent atmosphere. To wash it down, guests sip from hand-cut crystal glassware.
Should you need to make use of other amenities during your stay, never fear: $10,000+ Toto toilets, equipped with remote-control bidets and dryers await.
The entire experience is delivered “in the Japanese spirit of omotenashi,” which, essentially defined, means to serve a guest wholeheartedly without being strictly servile in your subjugation to their every possible want or need.
Hiroshi Kimura’s brainchild brings this uniquely luxurious experience to Silicon Valley royalty for $395 per person at a minimum, though that is rarely the extent of the final bill. He averages about three to five dinners a week, with even more during conventions.
For all its extravagance, customers seem to be happy. Hiroshi’s Yelp reviews all glow with satiated and satisfied customers, with only a few nods toward the price paid for such an experience. Those customers include unnamed executives from Apple, Google, and Oracle — all people who can afford the sort of night that will cost thousands.
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