In 2018 Ryo Asakawa and Bridget Delaney took over a former tailor shop on Frankford Avenue because it was narrow enough for one long counter and had a cellar cold enough for sake. Ryo still breaks down every fish, and Bridget still runs the room.
Nothing here happened quickly. The rice took a year to get right, and the counter took three.
2009
The first knife
Ryo starts as a dishwasher at a sushi bar in Seattle and spends six years on rice before he is allowed to cut fish.
2015
Monday pop-ups
Back home in Philadelphia, Ryo and Bridget run an eight-seat omakase in a Fishtown coffee shop every Monday night.
2018
The tailor shop
They sign a lease on a narrow former tailor shop on Frankford Avenue with a cracked floor and a cold cellar.
2019
Opening night
A twelve-seat hinoki counter opens with one seating a night. The first guests are the pop-up regulars.
2022
The dining room
The space next door becomes a thirty-seat dining room, and a side window opens for takeout.
2026
The private room
A private room for ten opens behind the counter, and the Chef’s omakase starts on weekends.
A rice pot, an aging case, a charcoal grill and the counter itself. Each station has one job.
The Counter
98°F
Nigiri & hand rolls
Rice held at body temperature in a wooden tub, fish laid out piece by piece.
Boston day boats
Most of our bluefin is caught by rod and reel off New England and landed in Boston, one fish at a time.
Chef and co-owner
Ryo Asakawa
Grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and trained for nine years at sushi bars in Seattle and Los Angeles. He breaks down every fish himself and still cooks the first pot of rice each day.
Ryo is behind the counter every night we are open. Ask him what came in today.