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“Approachable,” “laid-back,” and “unpretentious” are words that many a writer (myself included) seems to be using a lot lately to describe many new, upscale restaurants in metro Detroit. However, they don’t particularly apply to , a new, upscale Japanese restaurant tucked in the basement of downtown Detroit’s Book Tower.

Lavish and alluring, it’s a place where two finance guys have a battle of egos while talking investments (as overheard by my dining companion, who has phenomenal hearing).

The pricy portions are as sparse as the mood lighting, which casts an inebriating glow over the windowless dining room. Pricy, yes, but the kitchen is stocked with some coveted ingredients.

Hiroki-San’s ultra-marbly Wagyu steaks are cut from cattle raised in Japan’s Miyazaki, Kagawa, and Hokkaido prefectures. Fresh seafood flies in twice weekly from Tokyo’s Toyosu Market. The wasabi is real and freshly grated to order. There’s something to be said for this; it’s a stubborn crop and expensive to source. That’s why the overwhelming majority of wasabi served in U.S. establishments, and even restaurants in Japan for that matter, isn’t wasabi at all (often, it’s made from a powdered mixture of horseradish, mustard extract, and green food dye).

Built from scratch in a former bank vault, the shoji-lined dining room feels clandestine and exclusive. We imagined a mafia sit-down taking place here, a boss quietly delegating business to his made men over Japanese whiskey, perhaps a Hakushu 18-year, which compares to a “smokier Scotch,” says Patrick Jobst, the Book Tower’s beverage director. “But Japan has a much cooler climate and different water. There’s an analogy to Scotch, but it’s really its own thing.” Another import, Toki Suntory blended whiskey, is the base liquor in Hiroki-San’s Genmaicha-Hai, a green tea-infused highball with lemon juice, honey, apricot, and seltzer.

There’s also a good selection of sake, and for a flat rate of $75, you can enjoy a curated sake pairing with your dinner. But with an à la carte menu, how does this work? “It’s kind of fluid,” Jobst says. “If somebody sat down and said, ‘I’m ordering seven menu items, and I want to do a sake pairing,’ I would probably do four or five sakes. It really depends on what people order.”

On the subject of ordering, the food menu has 10 sections with more than 60 options, which I found a little dizzying as a first-timer. However, our server was top rate and guided us effortlessly through the menu with outstanding suggestions — which made the experience feel incredibly special and seamless.

We started off with tsukemono, a sweet and spicy assortment of seasonal pickled vegetables. The course was quickly followed by negima, one of Hiroki-San’s robatayaki yakitori offerings: a skewered chicken thigh with scallions, served with a side of flaky salt and another of ginger oroshi (ginger and negi scallion minced, then tossed with hot oil). Simple and cooked to perfection, the dish offers a clean, semismoky taste that readies the palate for more-complex flavors.

My dining companion and I agreed that the tako-age (deep-fried octopus) was our favorite small plate. It’s tossed in a house-made tonkatsu sauce with chile garlic, sweet and savory with a light afterburn. It has a delicate breading with a slight crunch. The meat is rich and tender, and you can taste just a hint of the sea. A close second were the hirata buns — hearty pork belly and crunchy pickled veggies sandwiched between two steaming bao buns.

Seeking the next best thing to omakase, we opted for the sashimi gozen — 14 pieces of sashimi from seven fishes, hand-selected by the chef. Served like a true fish bouquet on a bamboo leaf in a bed of ice, our samples comprised kanpachi (greater amberjack), akami (lean blue fin tuna), hamachi (Japanese yellowtail), sake (salmon), suzuki (Japanese sea bass), kinmedai (alfonsino), and samegawa karei (Hokkaido-caught shark skin flounder). We most enjoyed the salmon, which my dining companion said “turned to butter” in her mouth. Each piece was fresh and flavorful — and the real wasabi made it that much better. It offers a milder burn, a more nuanced and herbaceous flavor profile that complements the fish it’s served with rather than drowning it out. True wasabi doesn’t deliver the sinus punch of its cousin horseradish.

Hiroki-San itself is an import. The first location, called simply Hiroki for its executive chef, Hiroki Fujiyama, opened in Philadelphia in 2019. Philly-based hospitality group , the reigning tenant in Bedrock’s Book Tower, opened the concept in Detroit this January. Last year, it brought , , , and the popular Parisian restaurant Le Suprême to the same building.

Hiroki-San’s menu was a collaboration between Fujiyama; Method Co.’s executive culinary director, Brinn Sinnott; and Chef de Cuisine Chris Vasquez, the former executive chef of Ferndale’s TigerLily.

“Chef Hiroki, his style is very Kyoto-style — simple and refined,” Vasquez says. “In Kyoto, they are known for kaiseki [a traditional Japanese multicourse dinner]. My style is a bit more moderate, taking different approaches, different methods, not just one region of Japan. I think when we came to play, Brinn was like, ‘All right, we have all these ideas, and let’s put them all together into one.’ It was nice to see multiple different styles, ingredients, flavor profiles.”

Though much smaller, Hiroki in Philadelphia offers something that Hiroki-San doesn’t — at least not just yet: omakase, an intimate and semi-intimidating Japanese dining experience in which a chef improvises a multicourse meal with seasonal ingredients right in front of you. It is “something people always ask about,” Vasquez says. “This is one of those things where when we do it, we want to hit the mark. Once we offer omakase here, it’s going to be well put together, where we have a layout going for it.”

Though it may not have reached its final form yet, Hiroki-San already offers an elevated and enjoyable dining experience in the heart of downtown. While it has a bit of the corporate feel you might expect when Dan Gilbert’s real estate behemoth gets together with a vertically integrated hospitality company from out of state, Vasquez lends a familiar face and down-to-earth vibes.

It should be mentioned that Hiroki-San shares its kitchen with Sakazuki, a more casual Japanese bistro upstairs that offers cutesy cocktails and handhelds like Wagyu hot dogs and ekiben, a type of bento box that you can find at many Japanese train stations.

At the end of the meal, we were presented with a cryptic card with a smiley face and six words: “THESE ARE THE DAYS MY FRIEND.” This is Hiroki-San’s slogan, a play on a classic ’60s song lyric, attributed to Method Co.’s creative director, Daniel Olsovsky. As Detroit’s dining scene grows and expands at a breakneck rate, with diverse options that could go toe to toe with those available in larger cities, I can’t help but think: These are the days to dine in Detroit.

At a Glance:

• Price: $$$-$$$$
• Vibes: Swanky, secret, moody
• Service: Attentive, polished, knowledgeable
• Sound level: Moderate
• Dress code: None
• Open: Dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays
• Reservations: Recommended. Call 313-597-8344 or make online at .
• Parking: Several lots and parking structures are located nearby. Or find street parking on Washington Boulevard (don’t forget to pay for parking: Detroit ticket writers are ruthless).
• Valet: Available at the Book Tower entrance on Washington Boulevard.
• Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Guests using a wheelchair can take the resident elevator — a Book Tower employee will be able to assist.

This story originally appeared in the June 2024 issue of ������ Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of ������ Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our digital edition will be available on June 6.