On September 1, KOTO-PORT, an outdoor area where small shops centering on food and beverages gather, opened at IKE・SUNPARK.
KOTO-PORT, which was designed to evoke the image of a shopping district in the park, will feature 4 food businesses.
“HIGUMA Doughnuts x SOUR the park” – a collaboration between HIGUMA Doughnuts, a doughnut shop with a main store in Gakugei University, and SOUR, a fruit sour specialty store in Kyoto – and the first permanent shop by “Pramana Spice”, a popular curry shop formerly opening biweekly at a rented space, “Awaterasu”, a new challenge by a long-established sake shop in Higashi-Ikebukuro, and “Café Bamboo”, the first food and beverage business in collaboration with Vietnamese coffee bean growers, are four gourmet shops you can’t find anywhere else.
In the future, we plan to add up to seven shops in total of various business types, not limited to restaurants.
Opening hours vary from shop to shop, but the shops will be open from morning to night, and will be a great place to enjoy lunch, drinks and dinner. The varied line-up includes handy doughnuts, banh mi sandwiches and coffee, spiced curry, and even authentic sake.
We are also planning to offer a “ready-to-picnic set” that includes the lending of rugs and other items. You can enjoy a picnic in the park without having to worry about the three C’s. KOTO-PORT is a place of comfort and relaxation where you can enjoy a meal or drink on the soft lawn in the park, even with children.
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Shops
●HIGUMA Doughnuts x SOUR the park
HIGUMA Doughnuts is popular for its homemade doughnuts using ingredients from the owner’s homeland of Hokkaido, but in addition to doughnuts, the shop is also preparing weekend-only hamburgers, Genghis Khan, and other menu items that will allow you to enjoy a filling meal. SOUR, a sour shop specializing in fresh fruit sours, uses the most delicious fruits of the season supplied from contract farmers across the country and prepares them to order. The sour made with the fruits is as satisfying as eating the fruits themselves.
A doughnut shop and a sour shop, an unexpected combination of the two shops, are united by the theme of “a park that can be enjoyed by both adults and children,” creating a new chemical reaction.
●Pramana Spice
Pramana Spice was a rented curry shop that was limited to two working days a week and the curry was always sold out. Iori Kato, the owner, has traveled around the world to create his own original spiced curry shop based on his memories of spices. There is no fixed recipe for the curry and its accompaniments, but rather he creates his menu according to the ingredients available at the time and the season, so no matter how many times you eat it, you will never get bored of it – you will always find a new taste.
The original banana juice that matches the curry is also a must-have item. Enjoy pairing the spices with the sweet banana juice.
●Awaterasu
Awaterasu is a new business model by Tetsuro Koga, owner of the famous sake restaurant “Inamizuki Amaterasu” in Higashi-Ikebukuro, which has been in business for nine years. The theme of Awaterasu is to serve light sake that can be enjoyed in the park, and will consist of sparkling drink and fried food pairings.
Utilizing its connections with brewers and producers from across the country, Awaterasu plans to develop a limited edition sparkling sake. You can enjoy a blissful drink in an expansive park.
●Café Bamboo
This is a new business started in collaboration with Vietnamese coffee growers with the aim of improving the status of Vietnamese coffee, which is sold and bought at low cost. As the first step, Café Bamboo was established with the idea of “bringing together the cultures of Japan and Vietnam through coffee and banh mi,” offering tasty Vietnamese food to the broad age range of park visitors and the multicultural community of Ikebukuro.
The restaurant’s signature dish, banh mi, is made with seasonal vegetables from farmers across the country, and the restaurant aims to combine the tastes of Vietnam and Japan in its dishes.
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From Park to City: The Attractions of KOTO-PORT
What do you think of the things you want to do and can do in a park? In addition to allowing everyone to spend their time freely as they wish, IKE・SUNPARK aims to provide a different kind of public space.
One of the things we are trying to do is to support small businesses and new challenges. The more people in the community who are actively working on what they like to do and what they are good at, the more attractive the city will become. KOTO-PORT was created to support this goal.
Due to the effects of the coronavirus, our lifestyles are changing dramatically. At the same time, many of us may have become more aware than ever of the importance of our homes, families, and communities around us. With this in mind, I believe that KOTO-PORT, with its style like a local shopping district, will be a new place that is in tune with these times.
●Small Business｜Support for small businesses
A small business tries to build a business and life in a size that fits one’s own size instead of having the goal of becoming a large corporation. For a small business, being small is neither a disadvantage nor an uncool thing to do. Being small and light, it’s a sustainable form of business that allows them to work on what they really need to do without being overwhelmed. If one wants to take on the challenge, the park will be there to help them do it.
●Life with The Park｜From daytime to night, joy in everyday life
IKE・SUNPARK is open from 5am to 10pm. Having lunch at the park. Taking a break with good coffee on the grass. Enjoying dinner and drinks together with friends on the way home from work. Not only can you eat in the park, but you can also take it out and enjoy it at home. Fresh green leaves and colored ginkgo trees – we offer a variety of everyday pleasures in the park as the seasons change.
