Taku

[Michael Ruhlman]

My good friend Adam Shepard has just opened Taku in Brooklyn on Smith Street near Pacific. I'm very eager to know how it is (since i won't be in nyc soon) and hopeful for Adam, who's a really talented chef. What's it like, how's the food?

Anyone familiar with my book Making of a Chef will recall Adam as a young intense culinary student.

Adam has told me that anyone who brings a copy of the book to his restaurant with each instance of his name highlighted eats and drinks for free.

[zilla369]

Adam has told me that anyone who brings a copy of the book to his restaurant with each instance of his name highlighted eats and drinks for free.

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Uh-oh.

I hope eGulleteers don't bankrupt him in his first month in business!

Michael - what kind of cuisine is Adam featuring at Taku?

[Michael Ruhlman]

it's a japanese noodle shop, but with more artful and upscale offerings conisistant with his work in three and four star kitchens. that's all I know! I'll try and get adam to post a description here.

[moxieman]

it's a japanese noodle shop, but with more artful and upscale offerings conisistant with his work in three and four star kitchens.  that's all I know!  I'll try and get adam to post a description here.

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Actually - we are trying to re-define the 'Japanese' dining experience. We want people to realize that eating Japanese food does not need to mean eating raw fish. We are grilling and roasting meats and fish, composing salads (some with raw fish - btw), making ramen, soba dishes and tweeking 'traditional' style bar snacks. I have put together a beverage list that includes sake (of course!), beer and wine. I believe that a well chosen wine list can compliment a Japanese menu as well as any beverage list can. Sake and wine durring the same meal at the same table is entirely appropriate - and delicious.

"Adam has told me that anyone who brings a copy of the book to his restaurant with each instance of his name highlighted eats and drinks for free."

As for the free food - Ruhlman told me to forward the bills to him - seeing as he's the one making the big bucks. So, highlight away. And come on over to Brooklyn.

[SobaAddict70]

Welcome to eGullet, Adam. Good to see you here.

Please keep us updated when you can about your new place. I'll have to go out there sometime and check it out.

Soba

[Brooklyn]

I am lucky to say my girlfriend and I have already had the pleasure of dining at Taku - it was fantastic. The chef is very talented, and there is a spacious garden in the back. The selections of wines and sakes is expertly chosen, as well.

A great addition to Smith Street, and a must try!

[mondaybox]

i've been a few times now, in fact once each of the past three weekends. i posted something long about it at another site, which i hope you won't mind me linking to here:

(recent post on chowhound)

on fri last we sat in the back garden, which is very nice, and had another great meal. this time i had handrolls stuffed w/ mushroom for starters, and my friend had the wings which were amazing. other friends with us had a nice longbean salad w/ a tofu dressing, and another had a seaweed salad (i'd had that myself before, it's good). all starters were really nice.

for main course, i had the softshell crab, on a carrot reduction, and with avocado and (i think) julienned green papaya, which was very nice. my girlfriend had the ramen noodles. noodles are her favorite thing anywhere. she's had them before here, so getting them again is a good sign! my favorite thing at taku, however, is the scallops, which i had the first time i went. next time i go i am trying the chicken, which looks and sounds great.

the weekend before last we sat at the counter along the kitchen, which was really fun. i enjoyed seeing the kitchen in operation, and each meal passing through the various stages of production. i was very impressed at how they handled a salmon dish that was returned by a customer to be be cooked a little more. as they refired the fish they totally reassembled the whole bowl of broth and rice etc that it it served on with with fresh ingredients, totally handling the whole thing in a very gracious manner.

(this is my first post, i think, but i've been reading the boards for ages. i don't know the taku people at all personally, just glad to have this place around the corner from me!).

[Bux]

it's a japanese noodle shop, but with more artful and upscale offerings conisistant with his work in three and four star kitchens.  that's all I know!  I'll try and get adam to post a description here.

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. . . . Sake and wine durring the same meal at the same table is entirely appropriate - and delicious.

. . . .

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My memories of a home cooked meal in Tokyo include not only beer, wine and sake on the table but a number of whiskies, brandies and other liquid intoxicants. "Wine" doesn't do it justice. There were a number of wines from the California wines we brought to the wines from Italy that our host receives each year from a client whose house in Tuscany he designed. Dinner began at six in the evening and we left at six in the morning.

I've had sake recommended by the sommelier as an accompaniment to a first course in a French restaurant in NY.

[juuceman]

is this the same guy from Momofuku in the east village??

[moxieman]

I only have a moment -

but no. I am not the same guy. Momofuku is a separate and entirely distinct restaurant. We do however share a designer and contractor. If you are interested in interiors as well as foodstuffs - come on by and have a look. And a bite. Hiro handled the two spaces quite differently. Its an interesting contrast. While Momofuku in bright with hard lines, taku - my restaurant is full of flowers, warm tones and softer lines. What we are trying to do at taku is a complete expansion of 'noodle bar'. We have 5 stools at the open kitchen while Momofuku has about 24. We focus on a more formal dining experience.

[Cathy-Ann]

My sig. other and I were a little hesitant to try Taku - it's a bit more pricey than an "everyday" neighborhood place, and due to a kitchen reno we eat out a LOT lately, but I'm glad we took the plunge.

While I can't recall exactly what we had, I do remember remarking at the time that the dishes had a subtlety and depth of flavor that were a cut above what one would typically find at your average Smith St. eatery. It's obvious that the meal was prepared with care for both technique and ingredients. I would certainly return, though perhaps leave it for more special occasions.

My only quibble was that the pear gelato had very little pear flavor (but I believe the fault there lies with Il Laboratorio, who supplies it). The other flavors were just fine :-)

[moxieman]

I want to make sure that everyone knows - we have designed a menu that can meet everyone's needs. I wanted to make sure that everyone and anyone could afford to enjoy taku. Yes - it is possible to spend $50 on a meal - appetizer, entree, dessert and beverages. But, it is also possible to spend $20 or less. The menu is designed to accommodate everyone.

As for the gelato - it is very uncommon to have Pear gelato. When the pear is eaten by itself - it just delicious. However, the green tea and ginger are so full of flavor, that the pear has a tough time standing up. Its the price one pays to have pear gelato. I think its a price worth paying. BTW - the black sesame gelato is one of the most unexpected dessert moments of my life. It is incredible! Everyone needs to try it.

[lambretta76]

All I know is that on my recent trip to Japan I had plenty of kurobuta (Berkshire) pork and it was fantastic. Kyushu-style ramen with Berkshire pork may be on eof the tastiest things on the planet. moxieman, while you're in this post, what style of ramen do you serve in your restaurant, or is it a combination of styles?

[moxieman]

we are doing a 'house style' based on tonkotsu (milky pork broth). We garnish in the tonkotsu style as well - simply; gobo, menma, negi, nori and braised pork butt.

We also add a couple of slices of grilled smoked bacon.

Our house 'tare' is actually a combo of traditional 'tare' and miso. It is a unique style. The noodles are made for us in Japan. Our pork is Berkshire pork - kurobuta. We have finally slipped into a broth making technique that we are very comfortable with. Now we are just tweeking the ratios of bones and aromatics to get it perfect.

Come in and check it out. I'd love to know what you think.

btw - we just added a cold soba - 'saba soba'. We do our own saba. It speaks clearly of summer.

seeya

[SobaAddict70]

Pork dumplings with a yuzu ponzu dipping sauce; salmon in a green tea broth; halibut with green papaya; fried pork spring rolls; pork loin with braised daikon; a half chicken with a golden crust and potent currents of yuzu - all of these satisfied and pleased.

But disappointments also crept in, like a forgettable hot pot of shellfish and vegetables in a bland broth or a mixed grill of meats and fish, all on wooden skewers, almost all tough.

Taku (Frank Bruni)

Related discussion regarding Mr. Bruni's style of reviewing and the Times' star system can be found here.

Soba

[lambretta76]

It's nice that Bruni isn't as OB-phobic as other Times reviewers, but does a single star help or hurt a neighborhood restaurant such as Taku?

I just hope it serves to pull some people in to this space, which has seemed empty as of late. (Though, it's possible, everyone may be in the garden.)

Still haven't made it there to try the ramen, and the wings sound fantastic, too. (I can't believe I just described the beauty of brining this past week. Since then, I've made an amazingly moist chicken parmesan and coronation chicken salad.) Might be much more tempted to go and slurp some noodles at the bar if there was a decent crowd in there...

[mondaybox]

it was a pretty good review, right - better than the star suggests? i've not been as often recently as i would like, but will head on fri or sat. i hope this place gets busy, i am quite fond of it. i will be moving though, so not around the corner anymore, but would hop on a train to visit taku. :-(

[moxieman]

This is the first time I've checked in since the review.

The star helped! Quite a bit. I think Frank Bruni wrote a great review. I am very pleased. I think he captured my commitment to the neighborhood, the restaurant and the food quality.

And yes, I do garden - if anyone is wondering. Herbs, flowers. The works.

We have made several changes since the review. The Nabe has been tweaked quite a bit. Its tomato based now and has a little sweet chinese sausage in it. So far, everyone has really enjoyed the change. We have also changed the inaniwa udon. it is still chilled - but we are serving it with a cured salmon belly and heirloom tomato salad with tomato water. Its quite nice.

Its too bad Mr. Bruni got a beat Yakimono. This dish is rarely screwed up. I think Mikey must have been having an off day. It happens. The dish is served with a shiitake udon (also inaniwa) and our house tare sauce.

And I just want to say - to anyone that is on the fence - if we look a little empty, try us anyway. Often the garden is busy. Or the dining room fills up slowly over time. regardless, the music is good, our servers are all great and the food and beverage is always tasty.

but thats easy for me to say.

[Brooklyn]

We went to Taku a second time, and had a 15 person party in the garden for my fiancee's birthday-- it was great again! I really love the food, and the review was right on, too.

[masayukik]

I highly recommend Taku, best "Japanese" restaurant on Smith Street. I took my realtives from Tokyo there last fall and they absolutley loved it. Enough said.

What to try:

Sashimi

hanger steak

chicken wings rock (fresh)

Service is always good.

[Sneakeater]

Another place on the "good" side of fusion.

I started with the cured sable (black cod to all you non-Eastern Europeans). The cliche would be to describe the fish as "silky", but that's what it was.

The soft shell crab dish was one of the better ones I've had. It was served with English peas and bacon -- those favorite ingredients of Japanese cookery -- and some vegetables more readily identifiable as Japanese.

All I remember about dessert is vaguely enjoying it.

I used to dismiss fusion out of hand, just as a matter of principle. Sumile taught me that, if the chef is imaginative and yet rigorous, fusion can work beautifullly. The food at Taku is perhaps less audacious than the food at Sumile -- more a Westerner's take on Japanese cuisine than the cross-cultural fantasia that Josh DeCellis concocted on West Thirteenth Street -- but it's still very good. When you think about it, fusion is more chef-dependent than many more traditional cuisines; if the chef lacks chops and the ability to assemble new dishes, then the food will fall apart. So it's a tribute to Adam Shepard that this food works so well.

Edited July 17, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Hiroyuki]

I learned today from Taku's website that Taku is 宅 as in jitaku (one's home) not 炊く (to cook (rice, etc.)).

Actually - we are trying to re-define the 'Japanese' dining experience. We want people to realize that eating Japanese food does not need to mean eating raw fish.

That's a great concept.

[jturn00]

I keep telling my girlfriend that I want to go there. I think there is a garden in the back. Now that the weather is nice, hopefully I can convince her to go!

Jeff

[lambretta76]

Hopefully Eater has gotten a bad tip, but this was over on that blog:

3) Smith Street: "Taku on Smith Street closed. Last Sunday was its last night after just over a year of operation. It is going to turn into a slow-simmered Italian restaurant under the same owners."

A follow-up post over at CH, from the user bloodorange:

"I'm designing & printing the wedding invitation of one of the owners right now, and he mumbled something over the phone to me yesterday about relocating Taku to Manhattan?? and opening a Mediterranean place in its location??. I didn't totally follow what he was saying, but there does seem to be some serious overhaulin' in the works."

Can anyone actually confirm this? Taku was one of the few "great" restaurants on Smith Street, and I would be sad to see them go. If it's true, I hope they contunie to supply Stnky with their long bean salad.

[moxieman]

Its true. After only 15 months its time to change. I wish I had more to say. I love this neighborhood. I live in this neighborhood - and have for 10 years. I am very sad that we had to go. But Taku lives still. We are trying as hard as we can to give taku another life - in Manhattan. As for the space now - we re-build.

I hope our fans stay with us through this process. And in time, we hope to gain even more fans. I am committed to Smith Street and hope this next phase hits all the right notes.