What does it take to launch a Michelin worthy restaurant?
Japan- and Hong Kong-based restaurateur Luke Clayton of Wa Creations has a portfolio of fine Japanese restaurants including five that collectively have 10 Michelin stars. He certainly has a better idea than most people about the secret to winning those coveted stars.
Luke Clayton cuts to the chase immediately. “You need great chefs, and you need amazing produce,” said the restaurateur, when asked what is the key to garnering those coveted Michelin stars.
“If you do not have either of those, you start the race 10m behind the starting line. You can have an okay restaurant, but you cannot have a great restaurant.”
As the founder and chief executive officer of Hong Kong- and Tokyo-based Wa Creations, which runs 17 fine dining restaurants – of which five currently hold 10 Michelin stars in total – he certainly has a better idea than most people about the secret to winning those coveted stars.
Of course, the devil is always in the details. This deceptively simple formula is undeniably demanding to execute, said Clayton, who took an unconventional path to gastronomic acclaim.
He moved to Japan when he was 17, attended high school and university there and is fluent in Japanese. After graduating, he spent two decades in the finance industry before an opportunity arose to become an investor in Sushi Shikon in Hong Kong. The restaurant swiftly went on to garner three Michelin stars, and has held on to the accolade for 11 consecutive years since.
The success of the Hong Kong sushi restaurant led to two more investment opportunities in quick succession – Sushi Wakon in Kyoto’s Four Seasons Hotel and Sushi Shin by Miyakawa in Niseko. Both restaurants launched to critical acclaim, with Sushi Wakon garnering one Michelin star until its extended closure during the pandemic led to it losing its star.
Meanwhile Niseko’s Sushi Shin by chef Masaaki Miyakawa – he also helms the three-starred Sushi Miyakawa in Sapporo – is consistently considered one of the best high end Japanese restaurants in the popular ski resort town.
“What happened was a lot of people from hotels and around the world ate at these restaurants and started calling me with interesting opportunities. The offers got more enticing, and I realised this could become a serious business,” said Clayton.
“I realised I could not try to expand a restaurant brand part time; I am kind of a hands-on control freak and it is my capital as well,” he added.
So, in 2018, he left the finance sector for good and took the plunge into the world of gastronomy. Since then, by his own admission, he has been meticulously involved in all aspects of the establishment and management of Wa Creations’ restaurants, which include one-starred Kappo Rin in Hong Kong.
One of the biggest challenges, he said, is the search for the best chefs who will take the group’s restaurant concepts to greater heights.
“There is a real battle for talent. The great chefs are in demand yet there are manpower problems in many countries and there are not that many young people in Japan who aspire to grow up to become a sushi chef,” he observed.
He believes his group's edge in attracting top-tier chefs is its hard-earned reputation and respect for the team. He proudly declares that the group had not yet had to close a restaurant, although they did recently rebrand an existing restaurant in The Peninsula Tokyo to their kappo concept, Zuicho, a testament that they are in it for the long haul.
He said: “I think we have a good reputation of not cutting corners and taking care of our people and I think chefs respect that and like working with us. As it is a tiny community of chefs, word gets around and that has helped us attract the right people.”
Case in point: Zuicho, which opened at the Mandarin Oriental Singapore at the beginning of 2024. It is the latest outpost of the one-starred Kappo Zuicho in Hong Kong.
Clayton had known head chef Kenji Takahashi for several years and had been hoping to work with him. (Takahashi had been running his own sought after one-Michelin-starred Yoshifuku in Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza district for nine years.)
This partnership finally came to fruition when Takahashi agreed to uproot to Singapore to take on a new challenge of launching the new Zuicho restaurant. It is early days yet for the brand in Singapore, but Clayton is positive that this culinary concept will be well received here.
“The beautiful thing about kappo is that you get the best of Japanese cuisine including sashimi, beef, cooked fish and noodles or rice. These are wholesome dishes that do not need an overly detailed explanation. So if you like Japanese food this is the place to be,” he said.
He is also equally precise about curating the interior design of his restaurants, down to granular details like the sake cups. Many of the restaurants are built from scratch and for the past eight years, he has immersed himself in the minutiae of designing of the spaces.
“It has been a real baptism of fire to get a glimpse into the effort that the artisans put into their craft,” he said, citing the handmade tin wall in Sushi Wakon in Kyoto that was crafted from 100kg of tin to resemble a giant piece of origami.
“The attention to detail and perfection is inspiring. Thanks to this restaurant business, I have a much deeper appreciation of all the things that are so special about Japan.”
At the end of the day, while he is undeniably pleased that many of the company’s restaurants are lauded by the Michelin Guide as well as other culinary guides like China’s Black Pearl and the Forbes Travel Guide, he says the aim of his ventures is not the mindless pursuit of awards.
“The goal is to build a restaurant that I want to go to and if I can execute the vision of what I want the space to be, other people will come and they will enjoy it. The message to the team is to focus on every customer and every dish and the rest will take care of itself,” he said. “Every guest who sits at the counter is a VIP and if Michelin chooses to recognise the restaurant as well, then that is an honour.”