The Rise of Japanese Restaurants in Greenpoint
Picture sitting at a 30-foot, charcoal-colored counter in a newly renovated brick building. On top of the smooth surface lies a white plate with a map of New York City etched into its face. Fellow customers line the countertop facing a space suspiciously hidden behind a curtain. Then — suddenly — the curtain’s drawn back revealing a modernly designed, open restaurant kitchen. The restaurant’s full Japanese staff greets everyone and begins the intricate dining experience, graciously showing the customers the ingredients of each dish before cooking it right in front of their eyes.
“Omakase style is a very good experience,” said Yuu Shimano, 41, the owner and chef of Restaurant Yuu, a Japanese-inspired French restaurant, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. In explaining the particular dining procedure of his restaurant, he defined the word “Omakase” as “Japanese hospitality” where the food is prepared “in front of the customer.” He smiled and added “It’s like a show.”
Restaurant Yuu is among the growing number of Japanese restaurants and shops that have been opening in recent years in Greenpoint, a historically Polish community.
At a time when New York City’s historically ethnic neighborhoods are experiencing a decline in racial dominance, according to a 2023 CUNY report, it follows that new ethnic businesses are opening as these places become more ethnically diverse.
This is particularly true of Japanese restaurants, as queries in Reference Solutions showed that neighborhoods ranging from Manhattan Chinatown’s Chinese community, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn’s Yemenis and Palestinian community, and Astoria, Queens’s Greek community now all have burgeoning Japanese businesses.
C.N. Le, 53, a sociology professor and the Director of the Asian and Asian American Studies Certificate Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said that he wasn’t surprised to see the rise of the Japanese business community. In summarizing the long history of New York City’s Asian — and particularly Japanese — immigration and development, he said “In each instance, it seemed to start with one Japanese business starting, and word starts spreading around through their networks to business owners,” and to residents and customers. He added, “It just kind of snowballs from there.”
Many of the Japanese cafe and restaurant in Greenpoint started opening after 2019, including Acre cafe and restaurant that year, Rule of Thirds in 2020, Restaurant Yuu only four months ago, Uzuki soba restaurant a few weeks ago, and at least a dozen more.
“The best thing about the community is their curiosity and ability to try new stuff,” said Shohei Miyajima, 35, the General Manager of Dashi Okume Brooklyn. “They are really good at adapting in a new way.”
This adoration, however, isn’t just from Japanese business owners, as Greenpoint residents also relish the new cuisine in the neighborhood.
“We’re going to Japan in a month, so it’s cool to get a tase of the food and culture before we go,” said Shane Walsh, 32, about him and his wife who live in Greenpoint’s historic district. He added, “We did get sushi at the Verge [Japanese restaurant] last night. But we usually order outside of Greenpoint, so it’s great to have things in the neighborhood.”
As the Japanese businesses in Greenpoint continue to grow, Dr. Le said, their expansion throughout the neighborhood may be able to garner their community a bigger role in the broader contextual landscape of the area.
But in addition to their expansion, these businesses are still dependent on receiving continuous support from residents like Jessica Thompson-Lee, 37, a teacher at Yaro Studios, who said that she welcomes this new addition to the neighborhood. “I think it’s really cool. I like to see that a new community’s forming in the area.”
