The auction floor at Toyosu is loud, cold and unforgiving. Tails are sliced open so buyers can read the fat, the colour, the glisten of the flesh under a torchlight. You have seconds to decide.
Reading a fish
We look for a deep, even marbling and a flesh that springs back. A great tuna almost glows. Twice a week, a chosen fish is packed and flown so it reaches our counter within a day of leaving the water.
You cannot fix a mediocre fish in the kitchen. The whole meal is decided at dawn.
It would be cheaper to buy from a distributor. It would also be a different restaurant. The relationship with the boats and the brokers is the part of this job no menu can show.
