14 Top NYC Restaurants That Feel Like Japan | Eater NY

"Torishin pays tribute to the bird, and this Michelin-starred restaurant is one of the world’s top yakitori joints outside of Japan. Chef and owner Shu Ikeda trained at Toriyoshi in Tokyo, and he initially opened Torishin in 2006 on the Upper East Side, before relocating to Midtown West in 2016, earning three stars from the Times and Eater along the way. On offer are three set menus ($60, $65, $160), plus a la carte skewers, that include various cuts of skewered chicken and seasonal vegetables. Ikeda sources his umami-rich, free range jidori birds from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, and before grilling over high-grade kishu binchotan, he brushes the meat with a 50-year-old tare sauce that the chef brought over from Toriyoshi. The most expensive set menu is also the most immersive, fusing kaiseki-style dining with more adventurous cuts like chicken tail, gizzard, and heart. The space is decked out in 500-year-old hinoki wood assembled via a technique known as kumiko, in which wooden bars are crossed and laid to form minus without any nails." - Kat Odell