Torimitsu, the acclaimed yakitori restaurant, is founded and helmed by chef Takuhei Yamada.
First opened in 2022, reservations at Torimitsu in Tokyo require weeks in advance to secure a seat.
The Torimitsu takeover at Tanuki Raw will debut from 28 October 2026 and run for three months.
Hosting 15 seats per session, guests dining at this Torimitsu pop-up will get up close with chef Takuhei Yamada and his signature yakitori offering.
Singapore is well placed to get better acquainted with binchotan charcoal grilling and acclaimed yakitori this October. Torimitsu, the cult favourite 13-seat yakitori restaurant in Tokyo, will take up residence on Tanuki Raw’s balcony for three months starting 28 October 2026. The restaurant, first opened in the Ushigome-Kagurazaka neighbourhood in 2022, has earned much fanfare for elevating yakitori dining in the Japanese capital, and, with it, a reputation as one of the city’s most challenging spots to secure a reservation. Singapore has found a workaround with this collaboration.
This is not the sort of overseas pop-up where a restaurant exports its name, tweaks a few dishes, and calls it an international debut. The restaurant is bringing its own grill, its time-tested cooking philosophy, and its Chef-Owner Takuhei Yamada to recreate a dining experience that best represents a visit to Torimitsu itself.
Yamada has spent 26 years in Japanese kitchens, beginning at his family’s restaurant at 18 before training in ‘washoku’, a traditional Japanese cuisine rooted in seasonality, in Tokyo. His career took him to Kagoshima’s Okinoerabu Island, where he farmed and ran an inn, before turning his attention to yakitori. In 2019, he spent six months training under the yakitori master Yoshiteru Ikegawa at Torishiki, the Tokyo institution whose distinctive approach to grilling has heavily influenced the modern yakitori scene.
Torishiki-style yakitori is not about placing a skewer neatly over charcoal and checking back when the timer goes off. The chef is in a constant dance with the fire, shifting the chicken closer to the heat, pulling it away, rotating it, and returning it to the grill as needed. The objective is a deeply charred, smoky exterior without sacrificing the juicy texture within.
Torimitsu has made that high-heat approach its own. Diners can expect generously sized skewers cooked over binchotan charcoal and wood fire, with grapevine branches added to the ember to impart a subtle woody sweetness to the meats. For the Singapore stint, the team is bringing in a 150kg charcoal grill and installing it on Tanuki Raw’s fourth-floor balcony, where only 15 guests will be seated at a time as they dine and witness the chefs at work.
The menu is equally intimate. Each service will feature an eight-skewer chef’s-choice omakase, with the selection changing daily depending on what makes the cut. The experience also includes chicken ramen and dessert, while additional skewers and dishes from Tanuki Raw’s existing menu can be ordered on the side. The takeover marks Torimitsu’s first venture outside Japan, and Yamada is not leaving the operation to chance. He will personally helm the Singapore kitchen during its first month, temporarily closing the Tokyo restaurant to make the move. That makes the takeover less of a guest-chef cameo and more accurately a temporary relocation.
Reservations for a seat at Torimitsu’s takeover at Tanuki Raw are now available, especially for those who have previously missed their chance while on holiday in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Where: Tanuki Raw, Orchard Central, Somerset, Singapore
When: From 28 October 2026
Contact: tanukiraw.com