Torafuku, the highly anticipated new restaurant from Le Tigre food truck owners Clement Chan and Steve Kuan, is getting closer to opening day. The photos above and below were taken late last week. They show the tables, leather-backed booths, and cork-topped stools in place and the kitchen equipment and lighting in mid-installation. They were aiming to have the kitchen operation for testing this afternoon. Here’s a refresher:
The 2200 sqft, 48 seater will serve up modern pan-Asian cuisine, izakaya-style (small share plates). On a recent walkthrough of the space, Chan supplied me with
four[seven] out of the fourteen dishes that might be on the menu on opening day [since updated]…kickass aburi zushi
torched pork belly kickass rice in a box“calamari” the way i like it
humboldt squid, onion, tomato, lychee, arugula, sweet chili dressingdirty birdy fried rice
chicken liver, heart, prawns, tofu, eggrye so messy chicken wings (crowned 2015 chicken fight best dish)
rye and gochujang marinate, mango glaze, ramen crumble, KFC sauceangry birds
finger licken chicken karaage, buttermilk aioli, angry saucewelcome to the gun-show
mussels, tomato,coconut milk, lime, cilantro,chipotle, crispy potatoeschocolate bar
(crowned bcca 2015 healthy chef best dessert)
chocolate orange ganache, milk crumble, vietnamese coffee ice creamWhen it opens this summer (likely mid-June), Torafuku (from the Japanese: Happy/Lucky Tiger) will be licensed with an 8 seat kitchen bar. The space has been completely redone, so they’ve had the opportunity to build to suit their needs. Half of their square footage will be dedicated to commissary work (to feed the food truck), while the other half will serve the restaurant. The only design element in place at the time of my tour was a baffling reinforced concrete communal table that appeared to defy gravity.
Chan’s good rep and skills (ex-Hapa Umi, currently sous at Raw Bar) are a terrific fit for this location, so I think they’re going to do well from day one. I suspect Chan and Kuan are anticipating as much, as they plan on parking the food truck out front during service so that diners have options (no reservations). Torafuku will open for six nights to start (closed Mondays), with brunch/lunch service to hopfully follow at some point in the future.
They’re just a little behind schedule. They’re now aiming for a soft opening on July 11th.