Ep 178 - How sound and coffee balance together in this legendary Japanese cafe With Reiji Honour from Hibiki

Hibiki is one of the most inspiring Japanese-influenced cafes in Melbourne.  A large part of the menu at the Japanese-style brunch spot is based on owner and next guests Reiji mum’s cooking.  

Hibiki, which is Japanese for "sound" or "echo", comes through in every element of the venue and even the website with awesome music sitting front and centre in the brand experience.  

It’s for those reasons that I feel very lucky to speak with Reiji Honour in this week’s podcast.

In this podcast we discuss:

-How Reiji started out in the industry.

-Doing his own fitout at Hibiki.

-The importance of staff culture.

-Hibiki’s focus on atmosphere and sound including their art concept.

-Operationally dealing with the ‘PR effect’.

-Delivery goes from being the ‘devil’ to the ‘saviour’ of the business.

-Giving Japanese curry to those in need.

-Adding Hibiki Future as a concept retail store.

-How Hibiki can go beyond Food & Beverage.

-Evolving the BOH experience for a better chef culture.

-Next moves for the Hibiki brand.

All the Hibiki Links we spoke about on the show:

Website for Hibiki

Website  for Hibiki Future (online supermarket, merchandise etc)

Instagram: @hibiki.melbourne

Instagram: @hibiki.kuro

Instagram: @hibiki.future

Hibiki Spotify

Hibiki Visual Menu

Thanks to our supporter for this season - Chefs Hat Australia