A hybrid of fashion and food. What did Sakai and New York food collective Ghetto Gastro put into their collaborative café?

Have you heard of Ghetto Gastro, a three-person food collective based in the Bronx, New York? If you have an ear for food, you may have heard of Ghetto Gastro from their collaborations with AMBUSH®, but they may not be well-known in Japan yet.

Sakai and Gastro have announced a collaboration, releasing items and opening a limited-time collaboration café "sacai GASTRO" at "Tokyo Burnside" in Harajuku, Tokyo.

The menu will feature four types of waffles and eight types of drinks for a total of 12 types, with NIKE, BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE, and Rocky's Matcha among the supporting names.

They use Harlow ICE CREAM for their ice cream and oats milk from MINOR FIGURES for their milk products. We met with the members of "Ghetto Gastro" who were visiting Japan.

Ghetto Gastro members. From left to right, Lester Walker , Jon Gray , Pierre Serrao

First, what are the roles of the three of you?

The two guys at the end (Lester and Pierre) are the chefs, and John is the dishwasher . (Laughs) . . just kidding, John's job is to do the creative direction. Pierre creates the menu, and Lester arranges the overall presentation.

Can you tell us how this collaboration came about?

In 2021, we collaborated with Nike on an event called "Family Style Fest" and created waffles based on the "Waffle Racer. After that, Nike introduced us to Sakai, which led to this collaboration.

Gluten-free chocolate waffles with plantain ice cream and bananas are deliciously sweet without being bland.BlackPowerWaffle ¥1,870

Fried chicken seasoned with original spicy syrup and served with green tea waffles is just right for a light meal.ChickenCoup ¥1,980

You have worked with various brands in the past.

. cultural respect and a partner whose values are compatible with ours . . It is also important to be able to express yourself as an art form.

Do you see any similarities with Sakai?

Sakai places great importance on art and design, mixing various materials and patterns to create something new and unexpected. Our cuisine also has something in common in that we mix various ingredients to create something unexpected.

Strawberry waffle obsessed with strawberries served with coconut ice cream.StrawberryHaze ¥1,870

Waffles, caviar and crab salad, an interesting and unexpected combination not familiar to Japan TripleC's ¥5,280

I feel that "Ghetto Gastro" has a comprehensive approach to food, not only in terms of food, but also in terms of fashion, art, and other cultural aspects.

. Food culture is a bridge to art, fashion, and many other cultures. Cooking is all about stories, and as storytellers, we chefs provide stories by mixing various ingredients and cultures. In this way, food can be a comprehensive expression of fashion, music, and art.

So, what do you see as the "ghetto gastro" style?

We value the culture and community of the Bronx. . this is consistently true of our sneakers, our menus, our book design, and so on. We want to take the ideas of others and express them through our own culture, the Bronx. I also consider "Ghetto Gastro" to be an art collective. . I don't go out as a chef, but as a creator, and I imagine that the food is at the end of that process.

Sacai GASTRO T-shirt ¥16,500 each

Sacai GASTRO Tote bag ¥19,800

I understand that you created an original recipe for "Sakai" by adapting the sole-shaped waffle with swoosh that you created in collaboration with "Nike".

The base is our roots , the African pantry. We used the symbolic colors of Africa: red, black, black and green. But since this is a Japanese café, we wanted to incorporate some Japanese elements. The green is matcha green tea and the red is strawberry, selected from the many varieties of strawberries available in Japan. Black Power" is a mix of carefully selected ingredients from all over the world, and I think it was only possible through this collaboration. TripleC" is an unexpected combination of waffles, caviar, and crab salad, which is not familiar to Japanese people, and I thought it would be new and interesting for Japanese people.

Finally, where would you like to visit in Japan during your stay?

Den", "NARISAWA", "été", etc.

They answered our questions in a friendly atmosphere from start to finish, but they were also fond of sushi and wanted to visit Hokkaido. By the way, "Sakai Gastro" will be available for takeout at "StandBy," a gallery near "Tokyo Burnside" for two days only, Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th. The "Tokyo Burnside" event will end on Friday, the 30th, so be sure to stop by and try it for yourself.