The prevalence of Japanese delicacies all through Texas at present appeared like a distant actuality again in 2012. However thanks largely to Austin chef Tatsu Aikawa, the style has exploded in recognition and continues to attract world consideration. What started as a family-owned ramen store has grown right into a mini empire of inventive bars and eating places, extensively lauded for capturing the American urge for food with Aikawa’s interpretation of Japanese-American fare.

Ramen Arrives in Austin

Born in Tokyo however raised in Texas, Aikawa opened the primary Ramen Tatsu-Ya in a small strip mall in North Austin. It’s been a sensation since, greater than as soon as listed by nationwide critics as the most effective ramen within the nation and among the many prime eating places in America. The creamy, umami-packed tonkotsu pork bone broth and the number of flavorful toppings stand in stark distinction to the beforehand standard packaged ramen People as soon as liked.

Upon its success, Aikawa expanded the noodle home idea to 2 extra places in Austin and one in Houston. Now, 10 years later, the household of eating places identified merely as Tatsu-Ya boasts six distinctive ideas which have gained a cult-like following and proceed incomes nationwide accolades with Aikawa as chef proprietor / chief imaginative and prescient officer.

“Our final aim is to teach folks on Japanese delicacies,” explains Aikawa. His pioneering strategy to Japanese delicacies is an expression of his personal story. His culinary profession goes again to his childhood, washing dishes in his father’s Tokyo restaurant. He moved to Austin along with his mother on the age of 10, and moved to Los Angeles in his early twenties to coach on the two Michelin star sushi bar, Urasawa.

Outfitted with a refined data of Japanese cooking methods, Aikawa returned to Austin to concentrate on perfecting his pork bone ramen broth. Throughout this course of, Aikawa was impressed to design a restaurant that would educate folks on Japanese tradition.

“I wished to present Texas a style of high quality Japanese ramen,” he says. “We had been the primary ramen store within the metropolis, so there was no blueprint to observe.”

Ramen is taken into account the soul meals of Japan. Throughout the 80,000+ ramen ya (retailers) in Japan, every serves its personal interpretation of the soup and toppings, which suggests diners will discover completely different flavors in each area. Tatsu-Ya’s tonkotsu broth originates from the Southern tip of the nation, within the Kyushu space.

Texas Smoke Meets Izakaya

As he discovered the intricacies of Japanese delicacies, Aikawa created ideas to speak them. His subsequent venture was Kemuri Tatsu-Ya, a Central Texas-influenced izakaya with a menu of smoked meats, yakitori and ramen, together with a full bar. The restaurant’s identify is impressed by the phrase “smoke” in Japanese – a nod to the wedding of Texas smokehouse and Japanese yakimono strategies.

Kemuri combines conventional Japanese aesthetic with kitchsy Texas decor, making a vibrant ambiance for which clients line up. A powerful number of saké, shoyu, and Japanese Whiskeys are a really perfect counterpart to the funky, enjoyable menu of Texa-nese fusion.

The Alley Cat Bar

For his subsequent venture, Aikawa and crew designed a cool idea to make the most of the house behind Ramen Tatsu-Ya’s Sixth Avenue outpost in East Austin. Domo Alley-Gato Tatsu-Ya is a playful tachinomiya-inspired patio bar serving the total menu of ramen from its neighbor sister, alongside distinctive home cocktails that cater to the youthful clientele.

Right here, signature boilermakers topped with frozen beer foam fly off the bar, and classy Chu-Hello (abbreviation of shochu highball) are made with home tonics flavored with ginger, saffron, and Sichuan pepper, or lavender, lemongrass and fennel. Native and Japanese craft beer and sake spherical out the drink choices on the full of life venue.

Dip Dip Dip Your Shabu-Shabu

Aikawa continued to bolster his repertoire with DipDipDip Tatsu-Ya, a new-school interpretation of the normal Japanese sizzling pot expertise, shabu-shabu. This staple of Japanese delicacies is called after an onomatopoeia for the “swish-swish” sound that is made as components are dipped and stirred within the cooking pot.

“Rising up in Japan, going out to shabu-shabu was a deal with, just like going out to a steakhouse right here within the US,” says Aikawa. Friends at DipDipDip obtain a private forged iron dipping pot, koshihikari rice, seasonal greens, thinly sliced meats and a number of broths and sauces, together with Ramen Tatsu-Ya’s coveted 50-hour tonkotsu broth.

The interactive eating expertise additionally contains an ice cream store that includes artisanal ice lotions in distinctive flavors like caramel chocolate shiitake mushroom or miso-peanut butter and jelly. All are made with native milk from Hill Nation Dairies and served in house-made, hand-dipped mochiko waffle cones created from mochi flour.

Over The Prime Tiki Bar

Aikawa’s most bold venture, Tiki Tatsu-Ya, opened within the fall of 2021 within the coronary heart of South Austin. Though not fairly a speakeasy, the bar is disguised as a fictional journey company, “Aikawa Tropical Excursions.” Strolling by an not easily seen door within the again, visitors descend down a lush cavelike staircase right into a secret island within the Pacific Ocean, an astonishing, over-the-top house designed and created by Austin’s Blue Genie Artwork.

Tiki Tatsu-Ya is a completely immersive expertise, with a menu that captures the essence of the tiki heyday and sharable bites that mix South Pacific and Japanese flavors. Drinks pay tribute to the tiki cocktail style, delivering renditions of iconic classics with added Japanese affect. True to the theme, every drink is served in its personal distinctive glass, together with outrageous giant format cocktails offered with their very own music and light-weight present.

“Many various communities have welcomed Japanese immigrants over time,” says Shion Aikawa, Tatsu’s older brother and senior vp of tradition. “Tatsu-Ya is the results of that hospitality. Celebrating the wedding of the cultures with meals is our method of honoring our heritage.”

BBQ Meets Ramen

The group’s newest venture, BBQ Ramen Tatsu-Ya, fuses Texas ranch tradition with easy-drinking cocktails and Aikawa’s award-winning ramen, including further native aptitude with house-smoked meats like brisket, pork stomach, hen and tri-tip. The idea is residence within the largely outside house that previously housed the favored Contigo, a spot that already embraced South Texas ranch delicacies and craft cocktails.

“In Japanese, the phrase “en” interprets to “circle” and means destiny or karma,” explains Tatsu. “This new venture brings that to thoughts — it appears like coming full circle from seven years in the past when Andrew [Wiseman, Contigo’s chef/owner] and I had been cooking collectively within the Contigo kitchen for an episode of ‘BBQ With Franklin’ and throwing it again to 2013 when smoked brisket ramen was born throughout a shift household meal,” he says. “This can be a serendipitous alternative, and we’re excited to convey new inventive power and serve the neighborhood.”

The Tatsu-Ya group blazed the path for Asian cuisines within the Southern U.S. and impressed many different cooks to pursue heritage cooking. One such story is that of Chef Jeff Chanchaleune, whose work in Japanese and Lao cuisines in Oklahoma Metropolis has earned him a James Beard nomination and a spot on The New York Occasions and Bon Appetit Finest New Restaurant lists.

“They impressed me to take a threat,” explains Chanchaleune. “They keep true to themselves and it pays off. I hope to do the identical.”