Creative Restaurant Kuramichi in Rokko-do Celebrates Third Anniversary, Increasing Regular Customers, Especially Local Residents

　On February 10, “Kuramichi” (3 Yumiki-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe), a creative restaurant in Rokko-do, Kobe, celebrated its third anniversary.

Inside the restaurant with sofa and table seating

　The owner, Shozo Haraguchi, who has 18 years of experience in the restaurant industry in Kyushu, Shizuoka, and other places, offers original dishes such as sashimi and sushi. The restaurant has a floor space of 17 tsubo. The restaurant has 8 table seats, 8 counter seats, and 8 sofa seats. The walls of the restaurant are decorated with art painted by artists, autographs and uniforms of athletes who belong to Kobe-based teams.

　The menu includes “Sashimi (six kinds of sashimi)” (1,700 yen), “Sushi (five pieces)” (1,800 yen), “Today’s fresh fish carpaccio” (1,300 yen), and an Italian menu such as “Seafood arioglio” (2,000 yen). Drinks will include beer (from 600 yen), shochu (from 500 yen), sake (from 550 yen), and whiskey (from 550 yen).

　In searching for a place to open the restaurant in Nada Ward, the company came across a property with many apartment complexes in the neighborhood, which originally did not allow restaurants. However, the owner agreed to the opening by being considerate to the surrounding area, for example, by not serving food that would emit smoke.

　Although the restaurant opened in the Corona Disaster, it did not conduct any advertising activities such as inviting friends and influencers, placing the highest priority on getting local residents to become regular customers, and the restaurant went through a difficult period for about six months. After that, the restaurant gradually spread by word of mouth and the number of customers grew, and during the three-day weekend from February 10 to 12, which coincided with the restaurant’s third anniversary, there were over 100 reservations. The current staff are all former regular customers or referrals from them.

　Haraguchi recalls that the period leading up to the third anniversary “flew by in a blink of an eye; it felt like a month. I want to make the restaurant a place where people can come to no matter what time of day, whether they are dressed up or just want to stay in their pajamas,” he says.

　The restaurant is open from 11:00 to 14:30 for lunch and from 18:00 to 1:00 for dinner.