Daniel MaurerA Japanese restaurant with three locations in Long Island will open in the space that was home to Lan, a neighborhood favorite for a little over a decade. When The Local stopped into Kotobuki at 56 Third Avenue earlier today, the owner politely declined to speak about the restaurant or let us take photos, since he is still staffing up, but said he hoped to quietly open next Thursday.
According to a Website advertising outposts in Babylon, Roslyn, and the original location in Hauppauge, the mini-chain was established in 1987, with an aim to “relentlessly revolutionize the facets of Japanese fare to craft extraordinary delights to satisfy even the most discerning of palates.”
A menu in the window of this first Manhattan location boasts a gamut of “classic” appetizers as well as “crafty and ingenious” apps such as the American Dream (combining five different fishes); sushi and sashimi a la carte; a selection of “amateur” sushi rolls such as the familiar Boston and Philadelphia rolls; “sushi avant-gardes” such as beef sashimi, hand-torched toro, and yellowtail Jalapeno; entrees such as an assortment of carpaccios, steaks, skewers, and teriyaki; and a “special list” consisting of dishes like spicy tuna pizza and tacos Japonese, as well as rolls like the Mardi Gras Gone Wild, which is topped with torched Cajun salmon.
The restaurant’s interior resembled those of its Long Island counterparts.
Kotobuki, 56 Third Avenue, nr. East 10th Street; 212-353-5088
