Daikaya—the long-awaited two-level project from Sushiko owner Daisuke Utagawa—will open its first-floor ramen restaurant on February 14. The crew under chef Katsuya Fukushima will start serving up noodle soup at 5 PM on Valentine’s Day, staying open until 11 PM. The restaurant will keep those hours for its first few weeks of existence, eventually expanding once things are running smoothly.
The restaurant—which neighbors Graffiato at 705 Sixth Street, Northwest, in Penn Quarter—will specialize in traditional ramen in the style of the Sapporo region of Japan. It is using noodles from a famous Sapporo factory, Nishiyama, and working with a ramen master from that company, too.
There is no opening date yet for the upstairs izakaya at Daikaya. Utagawa says the focus will be on the ramen shop for now. Further down the road, partners in the projects—18th Street Lounge cofounder Yama Jewayni is among them—will open Kiji Club, a bar inspired by the cocktail lounges of Japan. Kiji Club will occupy a small space at 600 F Street, Northwest.
We will have a lot more info on what to expect at the ramen spot shortly. In the meantime, here’s an article with some more details.
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