Pacific Palate

by Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 4/1/2008

Jeffrey Beers could have picked Miami or the Bahamas for a family winter getaway—after all, Jeffrey Beers International has made its mark on both snowbird haunts. Instead, the Beers clan traded sand and surf for shrines and shopping on a research-cum-pleasure trip to Japan.

In Tokyo, the restaurant-design expert liberated his inner foodie. "The day we visited the Tsukiji Market was one of the largest bluefin catches of the year," he says. "It was beyond busy." Because carting raw squid back to the Grand Hyatt wasn't exactly an option, he, his wife, and their sons opted for sit-down service at two typical Japanese restaurants, Ginza Toyoda and their favorite, Shunju Tsugihagi. Shopping exploits covered the spectrum, from modest calligraphy boutiques in Ginza to the "world of electronics" in Akihabara. Traveling between locations involved transport resoundingly familiar to a family of New Yorkers: subways and taxis. In Kyoto, by contrast, culture trumped commerce with tours of Kiyomizu-dera temple and Yasaka-jinja shrine.

The next stamp on Beers's passport will be from the United Arab Emirates. In Dubayy, he's designing a nightclub, a French-style brasserie, and an Italian restaurant at Atlantis the Palm, a resort opening in December.

Jeffrey Beers's Top 10 in Japan

Tsukiji Market, Tokyo.
Ueno Park, Tokyo.
Kiyomizu-dera temple, Kyoto.
Gion district, Kyoto.
The furniture shops of Meguro Dori, Tokyo.
Cow Books, Tokyo.
Isetan department store, Tokyo.
Inoda Coffee, Kyoto.
Shunju Tsugihagi restaurant, Tokyo.
Muji store, Tokyo.

A Kamakura-period Buddha looming over Chion-in temple in Kyoto. The Asuka-period Yasaka-jinja shrine in the Gion district. Connie, Oliver, and Justin Beers at the Asakusa shrine in Tokyo.

A soft-drink vending machine in Tokyo. Bluefin tuna at the city's Tsukiji Market. Kiyomizu-dera, a Heian-period temple in Kyoto.

Octopus awaiting buyers at Tsukiji. Mount Fuji, seen from a bullet train en route to Kyoto. Oliver and Connie Beers amid the bamboo near the Daitokuji temple in Kyoto.

Barrels of sake at the Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo. Red snapper at Tsukiji. A typical Japanese pay phone.