Bill Granger

The Melbourne native, a fixture on cooking shows in Australia and Britain, said Thursday he was eyeing Japan for his trademark breakfasts of fluffy scrambled eggs, ricotta hotcakes and yoghurt panna cotta.

"I would love to open a restaurant here next year, and we're having conversations," he said as he flipped pancakes on a stove in front of reporters in Tokyo.

Granger said he hoped to change Japanese ways of eating breakfast, which he said was "an opportunity to create intimacy and break down boundaries -- a vital start to the day."

"Not only weekend brunches, but now businessmen can have breakfast meetings on regular days too," he added.

Western breakfast habits are growing in Japan, where the traditional breakfast consists of miso soup, rice and fish, along with natto, fermented soybeans which are notoriously unpopular with Westerners.

"Maybe on the weekends I'll try these ricotta pancakes, but I think I'll stick to the natto and rice on normal days," confided one woman who helped organize the promotion. "The pancakes might be a little sweet for me."

But Granger said adding a little Japanese twist to his breakfast might woo customers.

"I am inspired by the simplicity of Japanese cuisine. I love the purity of ingredients," he said. "I'd like to work with them to see if I can add my little twist."

"Maybe tofu pancakes, I'll have to see," he said with a grin.