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Prefecture 48 brings six venues under one roof, each offering a different taste of Japan. Guests can enjoy grilled meats at Ibushi, savour inventive dishes at Five, immerse in theatre-inspired courses at Garaku, enjoy a chef-led private seafood tasting at Omakase, sip cocktails at Whisky Thief, or take home artisanal desserts from Dear Florence. Each space has its own personality, yet the precinct functions as a single, connected experience.
To learn more about Prefecture 48’s origins, read about the ideas and philosophy behind the project from its founder, Azabu Group. Below, go behind the scenes with Brand Director Cindy Tseng, Beverage Director Fabio Danzi and IT Manager Phil Chan. They’ll reveal how they use Square to manage the precinct’s complex operations and ensure every guest’s journey through the precinct feels fluid and effortless.
How Square Connects Every Table, Bar & Kitchen
On the counter
Guests can wander through Prefecture 48’s venues and pay at the end of their night. They might start with pre-dinner drinks, be treated to a meal, then take home a dessert – all without stopping to settle a bill in between. Square handles the transfer of orders and combining of payments, letting diners focus on the experience rather than the logistics.
“We’ve always envisioned ourselves to be a one-stop for multiple destinations,” says Cindy. “Square is a perfect integration into this concept because it allows our guests to move freely between venues with only one bill at the end of the night. To us, that is a big win.”
The four restaurants and the bar are powered by Square for Restaurants. Front-of-house staff take orders at tables with Square Handheld or enter them at the counter on Square Register, with both devices sending orders automatically to the kitchen. Table numbers, dietary requirements, special occasions and other notes appear clearly on each docket printed for the chefs, ensuring nothing is missed.
Menus at Prefecture 48 vary across the venues, and can even shift within the same restaurant depending on the time of day. At Ibushi, for example, guests can order a la carte from the robata grill for lunch or dinner, or choose set lunch specials. To manage this variety, the team created different customised POS screen layouts in Square so each Register or Handheld only shows the items relevant to its venue. Staff switch between colour-coded screens for each type of offering, helping them locate menu items and enter orders quickly.
New items can also be added on the fly. “If I happen to be in a situation where I have a new item, which, for a reason or another, is not registered in the library, I can create an item right on the spot,” says Fabio. “I can detail that particular item description within literally 60 seconds. The sale will be there, I’m not going to lose any money, and everything will be detailed enough for our accounting department and our inventory to recollect the sale. It syncs perfectly.”
Staff use Square Terminal and Square Handheld to take payments at guests’ tables, and can instantly scan digital gift vouchers via QR code. Fabio says: “[The bill] is presented to you in a very neat device. It’s perfect for the calibre of service that we are offering on a daily basis. It’s not invasive and it’s very easy to understand, even from a guest perspective.”
Speed of point of sale is so important. The quicker we are able to get transactions done, the quicker we turn tables – more revenue. But also from a customer’s perspective, it’s less waiting around, which is ultimately what we want.”
Phil Chan → IT manager
Prefecture 48 integrates Square for Restaurants with SevenRooms to manage reservations and dining tour bookings, keeping front of house organised even at peak times.
Meanwhile, Dear Florence runs on Square for Retail. In addition to visiting the patisserie in-store, customers can pre-order larger cakes, seasonal canned spreads and combo boxed treats through its Square Online store for next-day pickup.
Behind the counter
Dining at Prefecture 48 ranges from two-course meals to an impressive 21-dish degustation. The team relies on the coursing feature in Square for Restaurants to send orders to the kitchen in the right sequence. This ensures dishes are prepared and served in the correct order, helping chefs pace the kitchen while maintaining the flow of the dining room as a whole.
Inventory is updated in real time, so the kitchens can see what’s available and track what’s left during a shift. Stock visibility across the precinct allows venues to request items from one another when needed.
Reports from Square Dashboard give Prefecture 48 actionable insights for day-to-day and long-term planning. Managers can determine which products sell well at certain times, which days are busiest for scheduling staff accordingly, and the best days to operate based on guest patterns.
We saw that on Sundays and Mondays, Whisky Thief wasn’t operating at as high a revenue. So instead, we’re operating fewer days but extended hours so that our diners can enjoy Whisky Thief in the later hours.”
Phil Chan → IT manager
For Fabio, the Dashboard is a key tool he checks daily to track how the precinct is performing. “Square has brought some serious benefits in reporting and controlling financial figures and having an understanding of where things can be improved. Sometimes, with other operating systems, you really need to dig into the issue. With Square, everything is so easy to use – almost idiot-proof.”
Beyond the system itself, the team values the support that comes with it, giving Prefecture 48 confidence that help is always available whenever needed.
Customer service from Square has been essentially a white glove experience. It’s been a pleasure, and it’s one of the key deciding factors of why we went with Square in the first place.”
Phil Chan → IT manager
In a space where six distinct experiences meet, everything works in harmony, linked by a system that keeps the precinct moving as one. Guests may never see the coordination behind it, but they’ll feel it – in the timing of a course, the flow of service and the sense of calm precision that defines Japanese dining.
