Japanese chef Masayoshi Takayama to open UK restaurant in Harrods

Renowned Japanese chef Masayoshi “Masa” Takayama is to open his first UK venture in partnership with London’s luxury Harrods department store.

Takayama has run New York’s three-Michelin-starred sushi restaurant Masa and next-door Japanese restaurant Bar Masa since 2004. He also runs Kappo Masa on Madison Avenue in partnership with art gallerist Larry Gagosian.

Harrods said the partnership would “mark another monumental development in Harrods restaurant agenda and brings chef Masa’s signature Japanese cuisine to the UK for the first time” in a “prime location” within its Knightsbridge store.

Takayama was born in Japan and undertook a culinary apprenticeship in Tokyo’s Ginza district. In 1980, he opened his first restaurant in Los Angeles, Saba-ya. This was followed by the launch of Ginza Sushiko in 1987. The restaurant did not advertise and had an unlisted phone number, but became known as one of the most expensive and exclusive restaurants in Los Angeles.

Harrods has a history of high-profile chef partnerships and last year opened Studio Frantzen with Swedish chef Björn Frantzén, whose restaurants in Stockholm and Singapore both hold three-Michelin stars.

Further information on the Harrods and Masa partnership will be announced in 2023.