Urushido credits the inventiveness of new-wave of Japanese bars like his, in part, to the treasure trove of global influences and talent found in New York. True to the ethos of that fun-loving district, Urushido ups the playfulness of his cocktails with twists on classic favorites: Italy’s spritz is reimagined with yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit, while his take on the Caribbean swizzle highlights Calpico, a popular Asian yogurt drink. You’ll find these kinds of bars in the alleyways of Yokocho or the mom-and-pop spots in Golden Gai.”Īt Katana Kitten, for example, the design and decor nod directly to Tokyo’s Golden Gai, a magical network of alleyways in which hundreds of tiny bars are stacked atop one another. “It’s not just about technique and consistency, but about good hospitality and having fun. “It’s nice to see different perspectives on Japanese cocktails that go beyond Ginza-style bartending” she says, referencing the Tokyo neighborhood famed for its traditional buttoned-up bars. In addition to representing the best and brightest of bar talent in New York, Erina Yoshida says this diverse group of bars also showcases the varied drinking experiences you’ll find in Japan. Now, three years later, a full-on explosion of high-profile openings from industry veterans is highlighting the nuanced shades of Japanese mixology.Īmong them are Bar Moga, helmed by Frank Cisneros, the first bartender to be granted a Japanese visa for the express purpose of bartending Katana Kitten from Masa Urushido, formerly of Saxon + Parole, along with Cocktail Kingdom’s Greg Boehm Tokyo Record Bar from sommelier Ariel Arce Straylight, an eclectic subterranean hideaway overseen by Dorothy Elizabeth and Hidden Pearl, nestled in a ramen shop with cocktails by husband-wife duo Natasha David and Jeremy Oertel. It became part of the hospitality we offer.” But in Japan, there wasn’t space for big ice machines behind the bar, so bartenders started cutting the ice themselves. “Back then, most people were free-pouring and not making their own ice. “It was still kind of foreign at that time-we had to really show and teach people what Japanese bartending was,” recalls Yoshida’s daughter Erina, who now oversees Angel’s Share as COO. Opened in 1993, his cocktail-centric izakaya would become one of city’s most exclusive secrets-one that’s still shared via word-of-mouth to this day. But Angel’s Share proprietor Tony Yoshida, who had been running various restaurant businesses in NYC since the '70s, sought to showcase the kind of behind-the-bar grace and precision that had been evolving ever since cocktail culture took hold in post-war Japan. Those were early days for America's craft cocktail scene as we know it today-days when the Cosmopolitan and too-sweet martini reigned supreme. When the late Sasha Petraske launched the American craft cocktail revival at Milk & Honey in 1999, he tapped into not only the lost pages of Prohibition-era drinks manuals, but also into the mesmerizing Japanese art of bartending that he’d witnessed right in New York’s East Village at the legendary speakeasy Angel’s Share.
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