Torishiki, an acclaimed yakitori restaurant in Tokyo, will open its first U.S. location in East Village this fall. It’s taking over the former Siggy’s Good Food location at 292 Elizabeth St., near East Houston Street, according to the Times.
The restaurant in Japan has a Michelin star and is one of the city’s essential restaurants. There, owner Yoshiteru Ikegawa takes the very simple street food concept of yakitori — chicken skewers — to the next level by using almost every part of his Japanese gamecocks.
Ikegawa then serves the charcoal-grilled skewers omakase-style, and some of Ikegawa’s specialties include chochin (rich, undeveloped egg yolk), grilled tofu in chicken fat, and sesseri (neck meat). It has become wildly popular in Tokyo, with some people waiting months to get reservations, which are made two months in advance.
Torishiki won’t be the first restaurant doing fancy Japanese skewers in NYC. Acclaimed restaurant Torishin in Hell’s Kitchen, which also has a Michelin star, similarly provides a yakitori omakase that focuses on all parts of the chicken. In April, another Tokyo-based restaurant called Yamada Chikara also opened its first U.S. location, specializing in kushiage, which are deep-fried skewers of meat and vegetables.
The NYC outpost of Torishiki is expected in September.