West Village Restaurant Takashi Closes Permanently Due to Coronavirus Pandemic | Eater NY

"After a decade in the West Village, I learned that the Japanese grilling destination Takashi has permanently closed; owner Saheem Ali wrote that the pandemic “has dealt us a particularly deft blow.” Because the restaurant was built around tabletop grilling, communal eating, and interactive yakiniku, Ali said delivery or takeout “didn’t make sense” and that reduced capacity was financially untenable — “Cooking at your table is a fundamental part of the Takashi experience, as crucial as the flavors,” he wrote. Opened in April 2010 by Ali with chef Takashi Inoue, it was an immediate hit (with four-hour waits and a one-star review from the New York Times) and a favorite of Anthony Bourdain and other chefs, who appreciated Inoue’s celebration of the entire cow, including multiple stomachs, the aorta, the achilles tendon, and a famously theatrical dish that involved squeezing calf’s brain out of a tube. After Inoue’s death in 2017 at age 40 from a respiratory illness, Ali kept the restaurant open in his honor, but tells Eater that Takashi will not be reopening elsewhere." - Serena Dai