Holly Graham: ‘A bar is a form of escapism’
Tokyo Confidential sprouted a snowy sister bar in the ski town of Niseko last year, with an agave concept joining the family this month. Co-founder Holly Graham reveals the challenges of operating a seasonal business and explains why Hong Kong will always have her heart.
As we speak, Graham is in Tokyo, packing to head to Niseko to kick off the season – though a 7.5 magnitude earthquake was complicating the process. “We’re built for it and it’s fine, but we had a lot of tourists in the bar,” she explains. “I made them what I called survival shots. Like: here’s a Daiquiri, everyone survived.”
Niseko isn’t the most obvious choice for a sister bar to Tokyo Confidential. It’s a smaller town with a sharply seasonal economy, driven largely by visitors heading for the ski slopes.
“Opportunity knocks, right?” says Graham. “That’s how I ended up in Tokyo in the first place as well.” That opportunity lies in Niseko’s positioning as one of Asia’s best ski resorts, with direct flights from Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and more. “There’s a big tourist population – it just seemed like the right market to hit.”
Niseko Confidential is far from a clone of the Tokyo bar, with the former offering a full-service restaurant alongside its cocktail programming. In a town with few venues offering both, it seemed an obvious move. Plus, it allowed the team to spotlight Hokkaido produce, which Graham calls “amazing – really incredible Wagyu and seafood”.
In terms of ethos, however, the two bars are very similar. “It’s fun, come as you are. Hospitality first,” she says. “I always say about Tokyo Confidential: drinks are important, but hospitality and how you feel about the place is first and foremost. That’s the same with Niseko Confidential, but with banging food and drinks to boot.”
Some Tokyo Confidential drinks have migrated to Niseko, but Graham is keen to emphasise that the menus cater to different audiences. “Tokyo is an extremely competitive city. There are – they estimate – 20,000-plus cocktail bars here,” she says. That environment has led the team to create “conceptually heavy” menus in Tokyo, which might feel out of place in Niseko, where families are not uncommon at the bar. “People just want a good space to eat and drink and hang out. Whereas if you’re going to a bar in Tokyo, you’re going to bars with people who want to go to bars.”
Accessibility, therefore, is the name of the game at Niseko Confidential. As an example, Graham points to Doburoku, an unfiltered sake. “I think that would be a bit more challenging for the Niseko audience because they’re not necessarily coming to look for a slice of Japan,” she says. “They’re coming to ski or snowboard.”
Staffing a seasonal business
One of the biggest challenges of creating an outpost in Niseko has been staffing. “We have a very loyal, stalwart team at Tokyo Confidential,” Graham explains. “In Niseko, you’re dealing with a whole new bunch every season and they’re usually youngsters on working holiday visas.”
Fortunately, one year in, things are improving. A former member of Tokyo Confidential is joining the soon-to-open Tepache after extending their visa, and some of last year’s Niseko Confidential team are returning.
“The biggest challenge is inspiring a new group of people and trying to teach them your ethos every season,” she says. Many of the key Niseko staff come via Tokyo Confidential first, to absorb that spirit. “We hosted them at Tokyo Confidential and showed them what we are about, so they can go to Niseko inspired.”
Time for Tepache
With a year of Niseko Confidential under her belt, Graham is now opening Tepache, an agave bar in the same ski town.
She credits much of the bar’s inspiration to Jay Khan of Coa in Hong Kong and Shanghai, one of her “biggest mentors in agave”. Their friendship began during Graham’s previous life as a food and drink editor of Time Out in Hong Kong, when she covered Coa’s launch.
“I ended up becoming really good friends with him because he’s a wonderful human being,” she says. “We’d just sit at the bar and he’d talk me through these [agave spirits] bottles and their heritage and the taste profile. I fell in love.” Since then, she’s become a “hardcore Tequila girl” and “lost count” of the times she’s visited Mexico.
“Everyone always wants to be really careful of cultural appropriation, but I think there’s a difference between writing a love letter and exploiting something,” she explains. “And this is definitely a love letter. We’re not trying to be something that we’re not. We’re just trying to show love and pay homage to a category we really love.”
Another motivation for Tepache is to create something completely contrasting to Niseko Confidential’s “cosy cabin vibes”, which you’d expect in a ski resort. “A bar is a form of escapism,” Graham says. “I learned that a lot while building Tokyo Confidential. A lot of people come to Tokyo with this expectation of Japanese bars. I’ve found that, with two and a bit years under our belt now, a lot of people come to us because they’ve done that, and they like it, but now they want something different.
“I hope that might be the same with Tepache. Like: OK, we’re sick of the cosy cabin vibes. Give us a fun agave bar with great Mexican food.”
Tepache’s launch also reflects a growing interest in agave spirits in Japan, one of the fastest-growing markets for the category outside the US. Graham points to El Fujiyama, a neighbour bar in Tokyo. “It’s a six-seater bar and they’re just really passionate about what they do,” she says.
As well as a growing interest from Japanese consumers, there’s been an uptick in US tourists at Tokyo Confidential. “One of my favourite Tequilas is Fortaleza, which apparently is really expensive in America right now because it’s on consignment, which it’s not in Japan,” she explains. “We have a lot of excited Americans drinking a lot of Fortaleza at my bar, which I love.”
The spirit of Hong Kong
Graham sees Tokyo Confidential as having “the energy of a Hong Kong bar”, with new inspiration now coming from Mexico for Tepache. However, her hometown of London is rarely referenced.
“It is deliberate,” she explains. “I’ve lived in Asia for 15 years and it’s only since I moved to Japan that I’m asked every day where I’m from. People define you by looks, ethnicity, accent. I love London, but I don’t want to be back there. I left for a reason. When people say, “Where are you from?” I say London, but in my heart I’m from Hong Kong.”
Graham left the UK after university, and never worked in bars while she lived there. “I can’t really borrow or take influence from anything there. I didn’t know anything when I left.
“It’s easy to look at me as a six-foot blonde white woman and go: ‘This is a Western bar’. But I’ve had a lot of Hong Kongers saying: ‘This is super Hong Kong style’. Nothing makes me happier because that’s the energy I’m trying to translate.”
With Hong Kong having her heart, is a third Confidential bar in the region likely? “One hundred percent. I would love to. I’m manifesting – putting the energy out there,” she admits. “I always said I wouldn’t call it Hong Kong Confidential because it’s a mouthful. I would love to call it Canton Confidential. I’m starting to manifest that energy now.”
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