Flatiron Is Getting an All-Day Japanese Bistro from a Chef with Michelin Cred

The all-day dining trend has lured in another fine-dining chef with the debut of Hall, a Japanese bistro opening Friday in Flatiron from a former chef at Michelin-starred Kajitsu.

Hiroki Odo, whose experience includes over 10 years working in kaiseki restaurants in Japan, is offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner like most all-day establishments around town — but here the focus will be Japanese cuisine with European influences.

Hall is certainly a more relaxed setting for Odo, who last spent five years at Kajitsu, a high-end vegetarian restaurant featuring a set-menu centered on shojin ryori, an ancient Buddhist diet. At the far-more-casual Hall, the day will begin with counter-service breakfast pastries and end with small plates and cocktails flowing late into the evening.

The restaurant, located at 17 West 20th St., between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, will function as a to-go cafe in the morning, with pastries, tea service, and coffee offered. For lunch, also a counter-service operation, sandwiches like a washugyu meatball and washugyu sausage will be on tap. Salads and desserts, including dairy-free sakekasu ice cream, will also be available.

Cody Rasmussen [Official Photo]

Drinks arrive at 5 p.m., when the space will turn into a cocktail and wine bar coupled with small plates that pull from both European and Japanese cuisines — like bruschetta with sakekasu cheese, roasted radicchio with red-cherry sauce and parmesan cheese, and panko-fried calamari with white miso mustard cream sauce. Odo says the menu showcases dishes he personally likes to eat at cafes or local bistros.

Cocktails will be created by Jason Rodriguez, who put in time at the Living Room at Park Hyatt hotel. The wine will be French-focused and curated by Sebastien Auvet, co-founder of wine bar Vin Sur Vingt, and Romain Pardo, a general manager at the bar. And sake from brewery Brooklyn Kura will be on draft.

Cody Rasmussen [Official Photo]

Though it’s a casual affair, Odo is going for a “sophisticated” look, he says. The design comes from Tokyo-based firm Simplicity and includes oak panels dating back to 1905 and a green marble bar top, which seats 12. Four two-seat tables brings the total seat count to 20. Odo says the average meal would cost around $55, including drinks, he says.

Hip new all-day restaurants popped up like wild in the last couple of years, with everything from Australian cafes to breezy Mexican ones opening. Earlier this year, the owner of small plates hit Izakaya also jumped on with Davelle, a 22-seat Japanese cafe open all day on the Lower East Side.

At Hall, breakfast will run from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and lunch runs until 5 p.m., when the space becomes wine- and cocktail-centric. Hall will open later on Saturdays and Sundays at 5 p.m., and it’ll stay open until midnight every day.