From New York to Loop Street, how a Japanese mixologist fell for the Mother City

Sometimes it takes seeing your country through someone else’s eyes to realise how rich it is in opportunities.

This is what I experienced recently when I met artist, creative and mixologist-extraordinaire Tetsuo Hasegawa, owner of Anthm Cocktail Bar and Restaurant on Loop Street in Cape Town. This new kid on the block is turning heads with artisanal craft cocktails and tantalising small plates.

Hasegawa attended a local art high school in Tokyo where art became his passion, all the while dreaming about his music idols across the ocean in New York.

After completing his schooling, Hasegawa moved to New York, where he began bartending and continued to make art, eventually counting over 30 shows to his credit. Driven by a desire to build a community infused with his creative spirit, Hasegawa soon began to conceptualise his bar.

The Cape Town bar scene

Looking to push his creativity and challenge himself to new adventures, Hasegawa and his family left New York, the bar he created there and home for 20 years, and recently headed for Cape Town.

“The bar scene is growing in Cape Town and I saw an opportunity to share my unique skill set and to learn from other established brands,” says Hasegawa as he prepares a Beat-Nik cocktail for me.

I am captivated by how he meticulously shaves a block of ice to just the right shape to fit my antique cocktail glass, in what I am beginning to understand is his unique approach to the experience.

“It was the best decision and change I have ever made,” he says, as he hands me my first foray into his unique approach to mixology.

The Beat-Nik, enticing with its deep red hue and garnished with locally foraged dried African sage, sees the marriage of Patron Silver tequila, Cocchi Rosa aromatised wine, beetroot, apple shrub (made from equal parts apple, sugar and vinegar) and Durban Masala curry powder.

The curry powder is a great surprise addition to the cocktail, carefully added at the end of the process to the exposed, hand-shaven ice block, making my cocktail experience immersive as it engaged my sense of smell.

I loved how the bold, earthy beetroot set off the tangy apple shrub, both of which blended well with the floral sweetness of the Cocchi Rosa, resulting in a somewhat creamy sensation on the palate. This multisensory journey made for one of the best cocktails I’ve enjoyed this year.

Inspired by nature

The meticulous craft of Hasegawa’s cocktails is a reflection of his deep appreciation for nature, an inspiration he often draws from his time spent on the slopes of Signal Hill and Lion’s Head. And this inspiration is embedded in the feel and ambience of Anthm.

“I love everything about nature here in Cape Town, which is so easily accessible — the fynbos, the insects, the birds and the rocks, I take in the smells and translate that into your experience at Anthm,” he says, waxing lyrical about the Mother City.

His excitement gives me a moment for pause and reflection.

When I press Hasegawa about the choice of name, he tells me it all comes back to the ambience he wants to create in the bar.

“Everyone loves music and being together around music, singing their favourite songs, their anthems for life, over a drink — this is the atmosphere I wanted to create for Anthm.”

And he is not far off the mark, on my first visit to the bar some three weeks before, what was originally intended as a one-drink-stop landed up being a three-drink chat and time of conversation with two regulars.

Hasegawa’s cleverly curated nostalgia is infectious with the subtle crackle of a vinyl playing in the background, the gateway to your Anthm experience.

Each cocktail is named after one of Hasegawa’s favourite tunes, with jacket cover designs that speak to his first passion: art.

Small plates

The small plate offering, though designed to complement the cocktails, is far from an afterthought. Each Japanese-themed dish is carefully prepared, highlighting fresh, African ingredients in an array of innovative flavours.

Hasegawa is on hand to recommend a selection of small plates to best suit your choice of cocktail, or Japanese whisky for that matter. My Beat-Nik cocktail was paired with the tuna tartare, featuring a grapefruit kombu ponzu sauce. The delicate floral notes of the Cocchi Rosa balanced the rather gamy flavour of the tuna, while the citrus tang of the ponzu brought everything together beautifully.

Your time at Anthm is an immersive journey, as Hasegawa’s uniquely created ambience sets the stage: those vinyl records, homely Japanese komonka-style furnishings and custom-sourced glassware and plateware.

Upstairs in the 100-plus-year-old building, a music lounge will soon host live music events, adding a further dimension to this multilayered space, elevating the bar from a drinkery and restaurant to a cultural haven. Just what a great night out in Cape Town calls for.

Anthm is more than a place to grab a drink — it’s a journey of taste, culture and creativity. A place that reminded me that the best experiences come from crossing borders — of culture, craft, and creativity — while celebrating the richness of SA’s vibrant spirit.

And of just how good we have it here at the bottom end of Africa.

Anthm does not take reservations and is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 5.30pm until late, and on Thursdays and Fridays from 4.30pm till late.

Find them at 63 Loop Street, Cape Town or on Instagram @anthm_bar.