I’ve been lucky to visit several restaurants
recently where chefs turn out a personal rendering of Asian cuisine.
The most individual approach can be found at Taku, a Japanese
eatery in Boerum Hill, co-owned by chef Adam Shepard, who worked
at Manhattan’s Bond Street and Union Pacific.
Taku is his first restaurant, and his original concept was a
noodle house.
"I was tired of traveling into the city for a good bowl
of ramen," said the Brooklynite, "and thought that
the neighborhood could use a place that served great soup made
with the best ingredients." By the time he and his business
partner Jim Heckler opened in May 2005, their humble ramen shop
evolved into a polished, 50-seat restaurant with cooking that
references Japan, but is as uniquely Shepard’s as his fingerprint.
The menu is brief with a few small dishes labeled "snacks,"
several more substantial appetizer plates, just three noodle
soups and a handful of entrees. There are standard dishes such
as "edamame," the Japanese boiled soybeans that taste
like peanuts. There are "gyoza," the crescent shaped
dumplings, which he serves with a tart sauce brightened with
the addition of yuzu, the slightly sour citrus fruit.
But if you’re looking for traditional sushi, you won’t find it.
There is a handroll filled with tuna tartare and another made
with fried eggplant and served with a sweet miso sauce. One plate
of three different sashimi (slices of raw fish served with garnishes)
is available, too; the variety changes constantly, depending
on the freshest catch of the day. But that’s it for raw fish.
If you want to eat in a classically decorated Japanese restaurant
with a long sushi bar overlooking chefs slicing and rolling,
that isn’t Taku. The decor strikes high notes with elegant gray-green
walls and a vase on the bar bearing a spray of pink cherry blossoms.
Yet the flowers that create a border around the top of the walls
have a hand-drawn quality and the waitresses wear casual street
clothes. Looking at the space, I imagined Shepard saying to his
designers, "Let’s not make this too precious."
He begins a meal with "kimchi," an incendiary Korean
pickled cabbage. His version tames the heat into a slow burn
on the tongue.
Under "appetizers," there are two unusual vegetable
dishes listed. One features five kinds of seaweed mixed with
ginger dressing that’s flavored with "daikon" radish
and sweet onions. The ingredients create an intriguing balance
of briny flavors and a pleasant note of sharpness from the roots.
Long beans (also known as yard-long beans for their length) are
charred until slightly smoky and tossed with a tofu dressing
flavored with miso. Cold sake (Nigori Ginjo – "Summer Snow"
– from the Kamoizumi Brewing Company), which begins with a smooth
creaminess and finishes with a bite, holds up to the appetizers’
spice.
Big prawns are fried until crunchy in a batter laced with sesame
seeds. The shrimp, which are a little heftier than tempura –
yet still light, are dipped into sauce made from QP mayonnaise,
the Hellmann’s of Japan, which is warmed with chilies and scallions.
There are a few small missteps on the menu. "Harumaki,"
or Japanese-style spring rolls, are deep-fried until crisp, but
their vegetarian filling is no more enticing than a standard
eggroll.
Taku’s desserts are just so-so. A sludgy, green almond cream
made an unwelcome entry over a silky, bittersweet chocolate pot
au creme. The coconut ice cream sundae wasn’t a bad way to end
the meal, but it seems like an afterthought, not a fully developed
dish. That dessert included scoops of vanilla ice cream, a fluff
of green tea-flavored whipped cream and a scattering of sour
cherries and toasted coconut.
There are two beautifully executed, sensuously textured fish
dishes: "konbo-cured black codfish" and "line-caught
Chatham cod." The black codfish was seared until the skin
was crisp and the flesh silken. A bit of pickled persimmon added
a tart, yet sweet, note and slices of Japanese eggplant lent
color to the plate. The cod, from the waters of Massachusetts,
was courser in texture with a delicate taste. Shepard paired
the fish with slices of curried parsnips and dabbed the plate
with vinaigrette that enlivened each bite.
He is just as adept at meat dishes, especially the playfully
conceived hanger steak topped with tempura "onion rings."
The rare slices of boldly flavored meat were teamed with roasted
shiitake mushrooms and a rich shallot sauce. Those rings – impossibly
crisp and retaining the sharpness of the onion – are reason enough
to visit the restaurant.
About the ramen: Shepard says it’s the most popular dish on the
menu – and for good reason. He uses Berkshire pork and smoked
bacon in his "Taku ramen" that has a deep, meaty broth.
Slices of rare rib-eye steak floated over silky noodles in a
rich, curry-laced stock in the "pho bo." At $15 and
$14 respectively, they’re not cheap for noodle soups, but the
flavors are vibrant, the serving is generous and the ingredients
are the best available.
Taku means "home" in Japanese, and it’s an apt name
for this quirky restaurant. Shepherd is literally at home on
the block where he lives a few doors down from the restaurant.
And he looks like a man who has found the right spot for himself,
at work in the open kitchen, turning out Japanese food his way.
Taku (116 Smith St. between Dean and
Pacific streets in Boerum Hill) accepts American Express, Diners
Club, MasterCard and Visa. Entrees: $18-$24. The restaurant serves
dinner from Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Mondays. For reservations,
call (718) 488-6269.
