"Takumen is one of those restaurants that could easily stand in for someone’s personality, and on a first date, you might appreciate the help with presenting as an “interesting person.” This Japanese spot in LIC looks like the inside of a cozy, minka-style cottage, populated by people nerding out about top-shelf sake and the restaurant’s rotating art exhibits—we’ve seen everything from eerie landscape photography to illustrations of bare butts on those walls. Although it’s an izakaya in spirit, Takumen has some New American touches, which means you’ll have stuff like ume-jam burrata and spicy miso wings to ooh-and-ahh about all night too." - will hartman, bryan kim, willa moore, neha talreja
Kate Previte
