Masa Takayama to Serve Burgers, Wings, and Breakfast at Tetsu in Tribeca

Reps for Masa Takayama's long-delayed Tribeca restaurant Tetsu appeared at last night's CB1 meeting to rally support for a liquor license. The team described a very different restaurant than the one that was originally pitched three years ago. It's not a teppanyaki any more, but rather a restaurant with a subterranean room devoted to tasting menus, and a more casual street-level space with a menu that will include finger foods, salads, sizzling meat dishes, ramen, udon, and burgers. According to materials obtained by Tribeca Citizen, the tasting menu will be "15 to 20 courses of chef Masa's creative interpretation of Japanese cuisine." And, just for the hell of it, Masa also plans to eventually offer breakfast at Tetsu.

This doesn't sound anything like Masa, Bar Masa, Kappo Masa, or even the Tetsu in Las Vegas. But Takayama has legions of well-heeled fans, and his restaurants are basically critic-proof, so this might very well prove to be a hit. As you may recall, Roger Federer went to Kappo Masa twice in 24 hours during the US Open, because he just couldn't stay away.

The team got initial approval last night. Work on the space is beginning this month, and if everything goes according to plan, Tetsu will open in spring 2016.