Hello, Yam!

Meet the Sweetest New Japanese Dessert Shop in NYC

"A tiny East Village shop dedicated entirely to Japanese sweet potatoes, serving every non-drink item made from imported Beni Haruka—the variety touted as the sweetest in the world (roughly 40% sugar raw, 50–60% when roasted). The potatoes are celebrated for their fluffy, dense, and creamy texture with a concentrated nuttiness, and they appear in two signature forms: “Satsumaimo” (whole-roasted, spoonable potatoes with caramelized skin, finished with butter and honey, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a brûléed custard) and multi-layered “silky paste parfaits” that start with crunchy corn flakes, baked sweet potato chunks, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream, then are crowned with Mont Blanc–style strands of sweet potato paste (dyed purple or left yellow) extruded through a spaghetti-press–like machine. The concise menu also offers a handful of drinks—black sesame, hojicha, and matcha lattes, plus fuji apple juice—and the concept is notable as New York City’s first dessert shop focused on Japanese sweet potatoes, making an otherwise hard-to-find stateside snack widely accessible." - Amelia Schwartz