green day in toronto

Members of Green Day showed up to eat at one of Toronto's newest restaurants

It's been three months since Iwami opened in Assembly Chef's Hall and a five-time Grammy-award-winning band has already graced its presence.

Green Day members Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt, guest guitarist Kevin Preston, and their video team, dined at the Japanese restaurant multiple times last Thursday and Friday, say owners and brothers Chris and Tommy Hoang.

The band performed at the Grey Cup halftime show in Hamilton on Saturday.

"We didn't know they were going to come," Chris Hoang says. "They called to make a reservation. They used a different name of course."

Chris says that Tré Cool and the band's video producer first stopped by last Thursday evening, and brought food back for the rest of the band members before leaving.

Then more of the band members, like bassist Dirnt and Preston and the video team came for lunch and dinner the next day.

Some of the menu items they tried included the beef yaki udon, nigiri, and a salmon sushi roll, which Tré Cool suggested renaming to "Salmon à Trois," since three types of salmon are used in the dish. 

The band members also tried an inhouse hot sauce which Chris says resulted in an impromptu brainstorming session of how they could start a hot sauce company.

"They drew a mock bottle on a plate with the name of the hot sauce that they came up with," he says. "They said that when they're coming back next year they want to see a bottle of it."

Both brothers say they grew up listening to American Idiot, with Chris using the song as his alarm clock sound as a kid. So to have the band stop by their restaurant multiple times over the course of two days "was a really fun experience."

"It was very personable. At one point it felt like you're not sitting in front of rock stars, but having a good time with friends, which is what we try to do here at Iwami," Chris says. "We try to build a personal connection with our guests."

That's why the restaurant is designed the way it is, with the bar where customers dine being intentionally close to where the chef prepares their dishes.

"You are able to have the experience where you're talking to the person preparing and serving your food," Chris says. "There's a lot of wealth of knowledge and entertainment that happens at Iwami and I think that what makes our restaurant different."

Lead photo by

@iwami.to


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