IZAKAYA OFFERS MODERN TAKE ON JAPANESE PUB
Restaurant has taken a blue-collar concept and made it an upscale dining experience
They’re called Korean barbecue fried chicken wings on the menu. Sounds simple enough; understandable to any wing fiend. But most diners at Izakaya would have no idea the road those wings took to get from the kitchen to the table.
“We’ve tweaked them 17 times, and we’re still tweaking,” said chef Jean-Philippe Gaston, explaining how the wings went through technique-driven testing that included brining, par-cooking, baking, chilling, poaching and dehydrating. “It took a toll on us.”
But it illustrates the restaurant’s dedication to research and development. “Every single one of these dishes went through the same meticulous process. It’s that Japanese perfectionism where everything is done a million times,” Gaston said. “Every dish has been cared for just as much as the next one. It’s definitely a labor of love.”
The new Izakaya finally opened a few weeks ago, months after its planned debut in Midtown. Blame the wings. Blame the entire menu. But the restaurant’s owners, the Azuma group that operates Kata Robata and Soma Sushi, wanted to get all the elements right — from the design to the menu to the bar offerings.
After all, their newest project is a modern take on an izakaya, a Japanese pub where drinking is just as important as the tapas-like food menu. Houston hasn’t seen anything like this take on a “traditional Japanese drinking establishment” before.
The Izakaya team is headed by Gaston and Kata Robata executive chef Manabu Horiuchi, who have collaborated on a menu that pairs with inventive bar offerings developed by Claire Sprouse and Chad Arnholt of Tin Roof Drink Community in San Francisco.
The foodie world has been buzzing about Izakaya since Gaston and Horiuchi announced their plans last year to turn the former Farrago space at 318 Gray into a play- ground for cocktails and Asian fare.
“Our izakaya concept was not meant to be a traditional izakaya, rather a more upscale idea of one,” Horiuchi said. “Traditionally speaking, an izakaya would be composed of simple yakitori skewers, sashimi, some comfort foods, sake and beer. We wanted to take that idea one step further by adding an excellent wine and cocktail list.”
Horiuchi added that it’s not necessary to be familiar with an izakaya — ubiquitous in Japan as affordable, working-class drinking houses or pubs — to enjoy Izakaya. “We want people to really have a good time here. As far as people understanding the concept of an izakaya, I feel they will get it. It is simply a matter of sitting down with us, having a few drinks, excellent food, and creating new or better relationships and really fun memories. That’s the spirit of an izakaya.”
So what’s the menu like? It’s divided into categories such as Raw Stuff (ceviche, tiraditos, crudos and tartare); Starting Line (beginners such as grilled eggplant with ginger and bonito flake); Greenery (salads); From the Grill (grilled oysters; Portuguese octopus; grilled chicken skins); Nom Nom Nom (duck and shrimp shumai; Texas quail scotch egg; mushroom macaroni and cheese); and Game Over (sautéed scallops, shrimp, onions and béchamel with rice; cold soba noodles; black sesame soy marinated snapper sashimi).
The element of surprise is there. So, too, are the dishes such as a grilled cheese sandwich that’s actually toasted tofu skins stuffed with a creamy ooze of Redneck cheddar, caramelized onions and baby sardines. Fish and chips are actually fish jerky with Japanese fish chips. And a plate of meatballs are orbs of Texas antelope with shredded bonito flakes and a raw egg yolk dip.
Ceviches and crudos run $13-$23, with starters and greens $6-$15, grilled items $6-$16 and shareable dishes and larger plates $8-$30.
“From my point of view, it’s a fun, exciting new thing,” said Gaston, who is overseeing the day-to-day operations. “It’s interactive fun food, unpretentious. The place might look fancy, but it’s somewhere you can come and have fun, great cooking and great cocktails.”
Those cocktails, described on the menu as Liquid Courage, take full advantage of the drinks-first nature of Izakaya. There’s a variety of highballs made with whiskey or cognac topped with Topo Chico, priced at $10 to $18. The Hotel Highball marries Cappelletti aperitivo with dry vermouth and Mandarin soda.
Sprouse said one of the joys of creating cocktails for Izakaya was traveling to Japan for two weeks with Arnholt, eating and drinking their way across the main island where they visited whiskey distilleries and sake breweries for research. “One thing we learned in Japan is people aren’t really drinking without eating,” she said. “As a social experience, they go hand and hand.”
She added that cocktails still are learning their place in terms of enhancing the overall restaurant experience. “As much as cocktails have come a long way in the last 10 to 15 years, as far as restaurants go they’re still trying to get the credit they deserve. There’s still a lot more a cocktail can do for a restaurant. It’s really about how the bar should reflect the same ethos and quality of standards as the kitchen,” she said. “So it was very exciting to us to take that first step together to try to find a place in the program for beverages and have them stand up to the food as great as chef Philippe’s and Hori’s food.”
Perhaps some Korean barbecue wings, even?