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Lisa Cam

Globetrotting bartender Hideyuki Saito has created a graffiti-themed cocktail menu melding art, travel and taste.
Saito, the senior director of bars at the Tokyo Edition hotel in the Japanese capital’s Toranomon neighbourhood, has drawn on a decade of visits to various countries for the menu.
He began his bartending career in Tokyo but left in 2010 to work in London, New York, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. In 2017, he was one of eight bartenders to reach the final of the Bacardi Legacy global cocktail competition in Berlin, Germany.
After 10 years abroad, Saito returned to Japan to join Tokyo Edition in 2020.

He oversees the Gold Bar at Tokyo Edition Toranomon (ranked 76th in the extended Asia’s 50 Best Bars list for 2024) and the Lobby Bar at the same location.
The Lobby Bar is a chic social space anchored by a gleaming gold bar and surrounded by chic counter seating that sits among lush greenery and an unbeatable view of Tokyo Tower.
The Gold Bar at the Tokyo Edition Toranomon has a different allure with its curtained, blacked-out glass exterior and sleek, monochrome interior.
Gold Bar’s new Graffiti menu features 12 cocktails celebrating six urban areas around the world – two cocktails dedicated to each.
The menu is accented with hand-painted artwork by Haruka Sasaki, a tattoo artist based in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district known for infusing raw energy into her work.

“I was travelling and taking photos around the world,” Saito says. “I kept seeing incredible graffiti art in places like Barcelona, where people really embrace street art. [They were] even using it to decorate the walls of their shops.”
A highlight of the Graffiti menu is the Oku-Shibu 75, a twist on the French 75 that mixes orange wine, gin and verjus with yuzu and dried fruit chocolate in a nod to the thriving natural wine scene in Tokyo’s Shibuya district.
Another highlight is the Adoninas Sour – inspired by Picasso’s Barcelona-era artworks – which combines sherry and vermouth, mango and dark rum. It is paired with Iberian ham and apricots in homage to Spain’s tapas culture.












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It was in realising the versatility of graffiti as an art form that Saito’s imagination started to run away.
“I started thinking about two things,” he says. “What if you could express a city’s energy through bold, graffiti-style visuals and also translate that same feeling into a cocktail?
“Not just capturing the essence but also creating an entirely new, exciting interpretation of each city through flavour. That’s what the Graffiti menu is all about. What if you could paint an entire city? I want to bring the world to life in every sip.”
We keep the energy high with live DJ sets, and welcome an average of over 160 guests every day. What truly ties it all together is our curated cocktail programme.
Hideyuki Saito
Gold Bar’s dark interior features hallmarks of Japanese design, such as blackened wood inspired by traditional yakisugi technique. This contrasts with black Spanish marble and subtle white and gold accents.
Twin black marble structures surround the bar itself, which glows like a golden jewellery box, and a statement fireplace crowned by a gold-leaf artwork from Los Angeles artist Guerin Swing commands attention.
Saito says: “Gold Bar has a unique combination of elements that really set it apart. The space was designed by (Japanese architect) Kengo Kuma and (American hotelier) Ian Schrager, giving it a sophisticated yet modern edge.
“We keep the energy high with live DJ sets, and welcome an average of over 160 guests every day. What truly ties it all together is our curated cocktail programme. It is this mix of design, atmosphere and creativity that makes Gold Bar stand out in Tokyo’s bar scene.”


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Food and Drinks

Tokyo bartender Hideyuki Saito on graffiti-themed cocktails that bring ‘world to life’

A cocktail from Hideyuki Saito’s Graffiti menu. Photo: Tokyo Edition Toranomon

Cocktails from Japanese bartender Hideyuki Saito’s Graffiti menu at the Gold Bar in the Tokyo Edition Toranomon hotel. The drinks are inspired by street art around the world. Photo: Tokyo Edition Toranomon

Hideyuki Saito left Tokyo in 2010 and worked in London, New York, Southeast Asia and the Middle East before returning to join Tokyo Edition in 2020. Photo: The Tokyo Edition Toranomon

The Gothic Quarter in Barcelona, one of the places that inspired Hideyuki Saito’s cocktails on the Graffiti menu. Photo: Tokyo Edition Toranomon

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Hidetsugu Ueno, one of Japan’s best known bartenders, at his Bar High Five in Tokyo, which Ryan Chetiyawardana in the first episode of his travel show. Photo: Mr Lyan’s Taste Trips

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Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Hideyuki Saito conjured memories of ‘incredible’ street art for the cocktails on his new menu at Tokyo Edition Toranomon hotel’s Gold Bar


Hideyuki Saito conjured memories of ‘incredible’ street art for the cocktails on his new menu at Tokyo Edition Toranomon hotel’s Gold Bar.


Japan

Wine and Spirits

Tokyo bartender Hideyuki Saito on graffiti-themed cocktails that bring ‘world to life’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hideyuki Saito conjured memories of ‘incredible’ street art for the cocktails on his new menu at Tokyo Edition Toranomon hotel’s Gold Bar

Hideyuki Saito conjured memories of ‘incredible’ street art for the cocktails on his new menu at Tokyo Edition Toranomon hotel’s Gold Bar