A Behind-the-Scenes Master Opens a Soba Restaurant in Greenpoint | Eater NY
"Opening at 95 Guernsey Street in Greenpoint near Norman Avenue, Uzuki is a converted warehouse with 32 tables and a counter where Shuichi Kotani—who has supplied freshly made soba to top New York restaurants since 2008 and even worked alongside Joël Robuchon at the now-closed Kibo—can finally showcase buckwheat in an airy, tranquil space. The menu centers on buckwheat-based dishes: seven signature soba noodles including a duck shio in which Kotani prepares duck four ways—roasted, confit, Beijing-style, and as a six-hour bone broth lifted with yuzu—and tops the soup with slabs of duck, buckwheat sprouts grown at the restaurant, boiled buckwheat seeds, spinach, and fried scallions; other items include salmon ikura noodle soups, a soba goma tofu custard (made from buckwheat flour, kuzu starch, sesame paste, and soy milk), a soba-infused tea jelly with soybean powder and brown sugar syrup, and a soba ice cream topped with crispy, salty buckwheat seeds. Kotani makes his noodles from only water and buckwheat—resulting in a more rustic, nutty, and grainy texture—and emphasizes how temperamental the grain is, calling soba “the impossible noodle,” which helps explain his mission to spread the word about soba through a wide breadth of preparations." - Caroline Shin
