Two Top Japanese Chefs Are Heading Up a Traditional Tuna-Cutting Show in Sydney

“Traditionally, tuna is the most important fish in Japan,” Dennis Oh, owner and chef of Marrickville’s Izakaya Tori, tells Broadsheet. “The tuna-cutting show is a highly anticipated event that is usually held every year, often when the restaurant first opens or at the start of the bluefin tuna season. It is also used as a measure of the level of the restaurant – while tuna is a favourite in Japan, it is not common to see the fish as a whole in Japan.”

This month, Oh and Hideaki Fukada – head chef of the hugely popular Kuon Omakase in Darling Square – will team up for two tuna-cutting shows, on June 10 and 17, at the Sheraton Grand Hyde Park seafood diner, Feast. The shows are exactly what they sound like: a whole Tasmanian bluefin tuna, freshly line-caught and flown in that morning, will be carved by the two consummate chefs while the audience watches along. Guests can bid for some of the best cuts of the tuna, and Fukada will share a bit of the history and importance behind the ceremony.

“Most people know otoro as the most expensive part of the tuna,” says Oh. “It is the most oily and delicious part. But in the tuna show, kama-toro is the best part.”

One of the fattiest parts of the fish, kama-toro is the flesh collar, jaw and gill of the tuna.

Those who put in winning bids can get their cuts served as sashimi and sushi, or (depending on the piece), cooked in the oven. But everyone else won’t go hungry. The evening gets going with cocktails while live music plays in the Sheraton’s atrium bar, followed by a traditional kagami biraki (sake welcoming ceremony) in the restaurant.

Guests can graze on lobster, Sydney rock oysters and tiger prawns while Oh and Fukada prep a menu that includes fresh tuna from the show, alongside other dishes such as Wagyu yakitori, chawanmushi (savoury egg custard) with truffle and mentaiko (cod roe) butter, and miso-glazed toothfish. It’ll all be topped off with dessert and traditional Japanese pastries.

Matching wines will be included in the menu, while rice lagers and sakes will also be available, alongside a cocktail menu, champagne and premium wines for an additional price.

The tuna-cutting show will be held at the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park on June 10 and 17, from 12pm–4.30pm. Book tickets here.