While we are all in love with Shinjuku Nichome, Tokyo’s iconic gayborhood, as the top spot in the city for LGBTQ+ nightlife, sometimes you need a change of pace. And where better than Tokyo’s most infamous evening spot, Kabukicho? But now we’ve run into a brand new problem: what about those of us who don’t especially care for alcohol? And what if you have a sweet tooth? Luckily, there is a gay-owned and operated business just for you: Roy to Silo!
The Perfect Story
Our tale begins many years ago, when one of the founders, Kazushi, became a pastry chef, and also worked as a dancer on the side. At the end of the night, he realized that there were few places in Kabukicho where people could just wind down without feeling pressured to keep drinking alcohol, or eat heavy meals of ramen.
“I started thinking it would be nice to create a place where those customers could still come and gather,” he says. “So about seven years ago, in 2019, I decided to open a dessert shop in Kabukicho. I wanted to serve something with a live feeling, so instead of pre-made cakes, I chose to serve parfaits that are created right in front of my customers.”
Those who have been in Japan for a little while may be familiar with the concept of “shimeru,” or “to close.” Not just for doors, it is a kind of final seal on the night, where one eats a generous helping of food to help stave off a hangover and recover some of the crucial nutrients that are not provided by booze. Often, these take the form of burgers, curry, or — most commonly — ramen. However, in Hokkaido, “shime parfait,” or eating a parfait to end the night, was very popular, and so Kazushi decided to introduce the concept to Tokyo in the city’s premier party district.
But how then, to brand the new store? And what should the name be? Well, visitors will be struck immediately by the preponderance of penguins to peer and peek at. Far from perplexing, this was perfectly planned: Kazushi has long loved our feathered yet flightless friends, and during his research into how to integrate his love for our Antarctic allies he came across an inspiring story that would help guide the direction for his cafe.
“I learned about And Tango Makes Three, a picture book based on a real gay penguin couple in Central Park, New York, who raised an abandoned egg together, which would later hatch into their child, Tango,” Kazushi explains. “I thought it was a beautiful story, and I wanted this cafe to be like that: we would be the fathers to our customers, our babies, feeding them and keeping them safe. The names of the daddy penguins were Roy and Silo, and that’s where our name comes from.”
The Menu
So, what can you expect from your visit to Roy to Silo? Well, the first thing to know is that the space is almost everything you’d want from a Japanese cafe: intimate, highly decorated, and infused with a feeling of generosity. The food is no different: Kazushi was kind enough to allow JGG to taste two of their delicious parfaits.
The first was the Creamy Fresh Vanilla, Caramel and Banana Parfait. Your devoted correspondent does not have much of a sweet tooth, but even I had to admit that this was utterly delightful. I was a little concerned that the cake that made up a part of this parfait might make it a little dry, but Kazushi has making desserts down to a fine art. The ice cream, fresh cream, and caramel merge together so well and so seamlessly that it becomes an almost transcendental experience.
For me, though, the highlight was the second parfait, the Moyu, which combined Roy to Silo’s homemade fresh creme with fresh white strawberries — an absolute treat and a rarity in Japan — with matcha cream and sakura paste, creating an incredibly balanced set of flavors that left even your sugar-skeptical scribe hungry for more.
This is no accident, however: the balance of sweet with savory is a major focus of Roy to Silo, to maximize appeal for people of any (or indeed all) tastes. This year, Kazushi informs us, is the “year of cheese” for the cafe, with a degree of saltiness being incorporated into each pudding in order to give flavors that are rich without being overpowering.
Salty with the Sweet
Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the signature savory parfait, which is a delightful surprise and an utterly singular concept.
“I like combining vegetables or cheese—adding elements that feel more like cooking. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with fully savory parfaits,” Kazushi says. “For example, I made a carbonara parfait. It’s completely non-sweet, almost like an appetizer, with Parmesan and other classic ingredients. I love the concept of reconstruction: taking something traditional, breaking it down into parts, and rebuilding it into a parfait. With carbonara, I separated elements like cheese and egg, then reassembled them in parfait form.”
This is part of a larger trend towards rethinking what a parfait can be, he explains. Although it has previously been extremely niche, the movement towards using vegetables and more savory ingredients in parfaits and other desserts is becoming more popular in Tokyo, and Roy to Silo is a part of that movement.
Additionally, Roy to Silo has an agreement with a curry maker, Usaji-San, so that people visiting Kabukicho during the lunchtime hours can enjoy tasty curry. It also serves small savory snacks, for anyone who prefers prosciutto to pudding.
The Clientele
As one may imagine of a dessert specialist, even in Kabukicho, for the most part the customers are women. “I’d say about 70% of our customers are ladies, with about another 20% being their boyfriends,” Kazushi says. “However, as a gay-owned business, we welcome LGBTQ+ people, and hope that we will have even more in the future.”
The devotion to making a welcoming space is the cornerstone of the philosophy of Roy to Silo. “Kabukicho can feel intimidating if you’re not familiar with it. But if you want to come, we are very welcoming,” he explains. “We value a calm and special atmosphere. If someone is too intoxicated and disrupts the space, we may refuse entry. We create this atmosphere together with our customers.”
Penguins are birds that flock together, make connections, and take care of one another. In Roy to Silo, a parfait cafe has adopted that ethos to become an oasis of sweetness in Kabukicho, the city’s center of sin and sensuality. For LGBTQ+ people looking for a place to relax that isn’t a bar, a club, or a host club, there’s no place as delightful or delectable.
