I have been to pretty much every relevant yakitori place in the city including Torishin, the first yakitori tasting menu in NYC. Inevitably, I will be comparing some of the dishes to that menu. Lastly, this was the first seating of the night on October 22nd.
Kono is a yakitori based tasting menu. For those that don't know, yakitori is a Japanese dish that usually consists of skewered chicken grilled using a charcoal grill. Originally they were mainly sold from small, take out only booths/restaurants called yakitori-ya. They are considered a common "street food" though they have become staples of izakayas and even higher end restaurants in Japan. They are especially eaten in Osaka, which is where I first had real yakitori, with different parts of the chicken including the skin, the oyster, the feet, etc. Yakitori has been served in the US and NYC specifically for quite some time now, but the first and perhaps only tasting menu was Torishiin in NYC. I went there in December 2019, and thought it was fantastic. I had heard they declined in quality since then, with chef turnover. Enter Kono. Chef Atsushi "ATS" Kono is an alum of Torishiin and had opened up his own "Kappo style yakitori" pop up, Chikarashi Isso, in the Bowery hotel almost exactly 2 years ago. After the acclaim the pop up enjoyed, ATS opened his eponymous restaurant April 25th of this year. Since I heard it was opening, I planned to go, and though it is long overdue, I was finally able to go earlier tonight.
1. Roasted Chicken bone soup with scallions
Unsurprisingly, this is basically a chicken soup at its highest aspirations. For what it's worth, that's a pretty high plateau unlike some other "simple" dishes. Thin soups/broths are always very tricky. There is not really a base, except for something like animal bones. While those bones themselves can be extracted for a decent amount of flavor, many times it can be pretty one note, and even then, you are forced to use salt as the progenitor of the majority of the flavor. Of course, the salt is necessary to activate the deep umami of the roasted bone broth. But if it is just meaty + salty, it's underwhelming. In this case though, there's a slight sweetness to the broth that is first generated by the scallions, but then garnished by the meat's sweetness. The dish was in fact not very salty at all. It goes without saying that it was a perfected chicken broth in terms of chicken flavor. One important note is that it never gets too meaty, and doesn't veer into beef broth territory. It is easy to use that crutch by just roasting the bones for longer. But it is clear that was not the intention here. Especially as an opening dish that should be bright, light, and open up your taste buds to what you are going to encounter. Indeed, I felt I was prepared by the thesis statement that was this broth. One criticism I had though was that it was a little too hot which ends up mitigating a little of that taste. I understand people think of soups are hot but they don't necessarily need to be super hot to convey flavor.
2. Grilled And smoked mushroom (couldn't tell which one) served with a little lemon to squeeze on top of it
The aroma was one of the best parts of the dish. You get a campfire smokiness that immediately draws you in. But what was more intriguing is it almost smelled like the outside after it has heavily rained. Petrichor and all that. It's such a unique smell to access in a meal. The dish was phenomenal. Of course it was very earthy as per the mushrooms. But I think the cooking method brought out the mushroomy flavor to its max. Sometimes the goal is to highlight various versions of a flavor, sometimes, it is to highlight a subtle note, and sometimes it is to maximize its dominant flavor and take it to its theoretical end. This was clearly the latter. But, of note, is that it's not just umami. This mushroom was only prepared through the grill, so that flavor is not just savory, or sweet from sauteeing. The maximized flavor is both earthy and savory. That dyad is what was concentrated in the dish. The texture was perfect, juicy and meaty. The lemon was a perfect addition for such a substantial bite, especially counterbalancing to bitterness endemic to grilled dishes and mushroom dishes. Overall it was obviously earthy, but even a little woody. It almost had a volcanic flavor, which is the only way I can describe it. Not like it was burned or even charred. But like a brighter heat. What was unusual but super cool was how well it was salted. I don't mean that it just didn't over or undersalt. I mean, it picked the right texture and type of salt and applied it at the right time to be able to let it be a subtle tertiary flavor of the dish. ATS's technical chops are on full display here. I suppose "less is more" to be trite.
3. Kawa (Chicken skin) with thin, saffron texture strands of chili on top of grilled yam with ginkgo nuts
Starting with the side part, the theoretical concept was very interesting. But unfortunately, it was not particularly good. While the ginkgo nuts have such an interesting texture that start very crunchy, grade towards a chewy, nougaty texture. They are a little floral but they are dominated by bitterness. That on its own, does not make this side bad, but it follows a very bland yam component. The dish is poorly constructed because the strands don't mix well with the yam, which is always dense. So that blandness is then overtaken by an uncomfortable bitterness that has nothing to balance it. That said, it's all mitigated by the kawa. It's fried chicken skin, so it's delicious and fatty. It tastes like the best part of chicken wings, except the depth of the flavor is deeper because of the quality of the meat itself. What's further compelling here is that, despite the portion being pretty substantial, it was not too oily. Furthermore, their technical control of heat really shines here. To keep the dish warm so that none of the fat is congealing while simultaneously keeping the crevices of chicken fat within the variegated manifold of the skin from being scorching is no easy task. But because of that, there is even a cool variance of fattiness while eating the dish. Again, perfectly salted.
4. Chicken thigh and uni in a pumpkin, chicken thigh broth. A take on the common Hokkaido pumpkin soup frequently enjoyed in Japan in fall
This was one of my top 3 dishes in the entire meal. The pumpkin broth is sweet and wholesome as expected. In terms of the basic pumpkin broth components, it's the 2nd best flavor I've had outside of the pumpkin sorba served as an opening "bite" at Indian Accent. But what takes the broth to a whole new level is the smokiness which really subverts your expectations of the soup. It's rare to find such a flavor in a primarily sweet and thick broth. There were two dyadic textural combinations in the dish, both fascinating. First the overlapping textures of the uni with the broth. The broth didn't ever feel like a puree with any graininess which is sometimes even a feature of squash soups. But in this case, it was intentional so that it seamlessly blended with the texture of the uni. Though, the uni itself was not the quality you'd expect at a sushi omakase, but I suppose that would be an unfair expectation. Nevertheless, this blend helped highlight the unique brands of sweetness both pumpkin and uni have, a comparison I didn't think would have much substance. This textural combination is enhanced by the contrast between the chicken thigh's juiciness compared to the smoothness of the soup. Of course the chicken thigh was cooked perfectly, and despite being larger pieces, basically melted after biting into it. That said, the chicken didn't necessarily come out in the broth all that much.
5. Monaka wafer sandwich with chicken and black truffle pate
It's the truffle dish, and for what it's worth, a really amazing one. The pate approach actually helps combine the truffle flavor with something else. Usually truffle overpowers so it is a little one note, but the chicken pate part adds a different type of funk and just a little gaminess that highlights some of the more delicate aspects of truffle. For example, I've never noticed the hints of tea in truffle. Even the ingredient's florality is more often than not dominated by the earthiness and cheesiness of the flavor. But in this case, because the chicken has minor variations on those as well, its the unique elements of the truffle that are drawn out. The pate itself was very creamy and luscious. And the monaka wafer had a slight cereal sweetness. Its value was of course more textural though. It was a little puffy, with just enough rigidity to stand up to the paste. I did find this dish delicious; however, it was a little too decadent. At least for the amount they gave. I don't usually want this, but in this case, maybe halving the dish's size would have been better.
This begins the array of skewers that comprise the real heart of the menu. They also had a special togarashi blend that was more chili forward on the side as well as just sansho pepper.
6. Chicken tail skewer
This one specifically had a really cool cartilaginous consistency. Said consistency was complemented by the occasional bone marrow quality. I expected this to be excessively hard, like chicken knee, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Biting in, you get punched by the heavy char, especially succeeding the previous dish. It seems intentional in this case and it overall works to the dish's favor. Indeed, if you have chosen to go to a yakitori dinner, this is what you should expect. I think the exceptional heat, of course deployed at the right locations on the skewer, highlight the ideal aspects of the dish. The pieces that are fatty get rendered perfectly while the leaner aspects are just grilled enough to get that charred flavor, while keeping it succulent. It smelled very similar to the Kawa. Given this is all chicken, of course, everything will smell relatively similarly but the skin usually has an aroma a little closer to pork to some degree. With the togarashi, the dish was elevated to 11. The brightness and kick from the spice helped mellow out the bitterness of the yakitori. That's really the name of the game with yakitori: how to get the benefits of the heat and texture of the grill while balancing the bitterness.
7. Chicken liver skewer
I'd say it was very good but it requires time to enjoy. While this sounds negative, I think one of the great parts of the dish was the leathery outside that immediately precedes a pate texture on the inside. Since it is liver, there is similarly, a bit of that pate taste but, the exterior is almost a little like chicken jerky which is actually quite tasty in this case. Granted as you chew longer, that inevitable fermenty overtone that almost had a non nutty bleu cheese vibe to it starts taking over. I suppose, the hope here is to take very small bites over some time, but the menu doesn't quite allow you to do so. Inevitably you play this 'game' with chicken liver but it was all the same an interesting and valuable addition here.
8. Inner chicken thigh with scallion lightly marinated in soy sauce-
This might be the juiciest chicken I’ve eaten in a bite. Again the bitterness is perfectly balanced by the burst of heat and fat in the chicken. The chicken has that roasty, brown meatiness characteristic of good chicken thigh. But even its nutty attributes start shining here, again, I believe because of the quality of the chicken. The pepper plays the same role here. Interestingly, the texture, for a moment, is like mushroom and it’s there that you can begin to taste the more subtle vegetal notes of chicken. Not a ton to say here other than it was incredible. One thing though, as I sat there a little longer, the bitterness certainly lingered a bit more the way a dark roast coffee does as opposed to how dark chocolate does. Perhaps a feature for some but not me. Lastly, the scallion was such a welcome addition because of the natural sweetness of an alium. Also that savory note actually helps highlight those charcoal notes of the chicken.
9. Kyoto style red pepper-
I have literally never had something both this vegetal and this sweet in my life. The sweetness was like a berry compote. But it coalesced with the expected bell pepper taste, which was really unique. I am a sucker for bell pepper dishes. I love eating blistered peppers in general because I think that vegetal notes are not easily accessible in most dishes. So of course, I will love this dish. That said, the aroma was lackluster, just equivalent to a bell pepper. Even the char didn’t really come through in smell. Moreover, it’s not that creative, though not all dishes have to be. The access to the kyoto variety of the pepper is why this dish is even on the menu. But it plays an important role as a departure from the chicken theme of the meal so that the chicken doesn’t become overbearing. In that sense, it plays its role perfectly.
10. Chicken breast skewer-
This was the most underwhelming. The skewer smelled of nothing other than the yakitori and the faint essence of chicken. The texture was similar to a perfectly seared octopus. But inevitably it basically ends up like a worse version of the tail. It’s still tasty, and certainly substantial, but overall lackluster. I could imagine getting this at nonono. This was actually the fundamental problem with torishin that Kono has thus far completely circumvented. Unlike at other restaurants, we all have a pretty stable understanding of what these various dishes might taste like. So what is interesting to me is to then either see what unique components of the dish that ATS is able to tease out or determine how placement and ordering of the dish helps the overall thesis of the meal more broadly. In this case, neither are interesting. It feels as though the breast is here because it has to be as the most ubiquitous part of the chicken across the world in food. It does have that depth of chicken flavor that most of the dishes have, but there’s nothing else. The texture is boring and there’s no nutty or grassy or herbaceous or whatever along with it.
11. Chicken oyster skewer with a yuzu chili topping-
Oysters are the two small, round pieces of dark meat in a hole very near the thighs of the chicken. Generally chicken oyster is the holy grail of yakitori. Here, it is no different. There’s the crispy skin like texture on the outside, while the inside is juicy and tender like a filet mignon. It’s particularly fatty, but not really in the way something like wagyu or pork belly is. It’s more fatty in the way toro is, if that makes sense. It just feels more “calm”. It smells like a chicken broth, which likely comes from both the mix of the skin fattiness and the roastiness of the thigh part. If a piece of the chicken could be closest to steak, it would be this. That said, it is in no way approximating steak, it holds its own as a desirable entree. But its meatiness falls into that sort of category more so than for example, pork and kawa. In general, the dish supercharged the meaty elements of chicken while drawing attention to its slightly sweet tones. I believe this was the first dish to do that. There is a peppery element to the dish as well which makes it pop, and garnishes the dark, meaty dish with a bright finish. Overall, it’s the perfect balance of savory, meaty, and sweet that makes this one of the best bites of the night. Unfortunately, I burned myself, but this seems more like user error in this case. Of note is I started getting full here, so while I don’t think it affected the rest of the experience that much, I can’t be certain.
12. Yukon gold potato skewer-
The aroma is fascinating, it has maple notes that mingle with the roasted potato smell. Unfortunately the taste doesn’t measure anywhere close to that. Kono fundamentally can not do tubers justice. I’m not sure that’s surprising given the goal of yakitori is to char meat such that it stays juicy on the inside but charred on the outside. So essentially, getting the exterior very charred without over cooking the inside. But in the case of potatoes, it’s a crispy exterior and a bland inside. If it was not exceptionally rude, I absolutely would have not finished the dish.
13. Chicken Katsu skewer with grated spicy apple sauce-
This was scrumptious and honestly sweet enough, that some bites felt closer to dessert. The katsu was the juiciest I’ve ever had. I tend to disregard the notion of “sealing in juices” as cooking pseudoscience, mainly because it is. But it really feels like they sealed in the juices here. Every bite is just laden with succulent chicken and the crispy breading makes this the best fried chicken I’ve ever had- sorry Perry Street. I’d guess it is chicken breast based on the flavor. In this case, just the chicken essence is enough because it is paired with the sweet and spicy apple sauce. This, along with the pumpkin dish, are the two that conveyed the fall motif of the meal the best. Similar to the kawa early on, the chicken oil never gets too hot, so it is pleasant to bite into that fatty element. Also the malic acidity of the green apple perfectly balances the fat of the katsu itself. This dish really does have it all, the bitterness from the char, the sweetness from the sauce, the saltiness from the fried katsu, the umami from the chicken, the sourness and acidity from the apple, and the fat from being deep fried and using high end chicken. It is the most balanced dish given it is saturated with so many dimensions of flavor. While other bites might have been more deliberate in what they chose to accentuate, this one threw everything in but the kitchen sink. That said, it was amazing, and it is great to have had something like this in the meal. Also burned myself again. Luckily, you don't need to be the brightest to like good food.
14. Grilled quail-
A miss. Boring frankly. It is impressive that it was both properly grilled and toothsome while not being dry. From a technical standpoint, it is pretty impressive. But from a taste and intrigue perspective, it was quite middling. Quail is too strong a flavor to go the direction of yakitori without a sauce. The gaminess mixed with char will be too overpowering. French cuisine got quail correctly. Grilled + a pan sauce derived from a daughter sauce. For what its worth, there were occasional bites with more of the slightly sweet glaze on it, which while sitting for a little, expressed that flavor better. But, because it sat longer, those pieces got drier. This was a misstep in the actual conceptualization of the dish as opposed to its execution. Even at its best, this doesn’t either highlight the best parts of quail nor does it subvert or deconstruct the latent flavors of it either.
15. Chicken meatball skewer with duck egg yolk and ponzu dip-
Unfortunately, by this point, I was getting very full, so my actual analysis of these dishes suffered at the time, and even in retrospect, I find it tough to remember the nuances of each entree’s tastes. What was interesting about this one is that it kind of tasted like gyoza, which isn’t necessarily bad. It was very heavy though. It had a general meatball texture, but none of the exquisite chicken flavor in the other dishes was present here. At least not very clearly. The egg yolk with ponzu was not very different than if it was just a chicken egg yolk. From my experience, those differences start coming through more when you cook the yolk a little bit. I actually think this would have worked far better as an appetizer. It does seem like it was sort of the most “izakaya” tasting dish which is a nice callback to the historical origins of how yakitori became and I guess still is popular. One thing that was impressive is that the flavor in the meatball was still from the grill, which meant it wasn’t quite the same as a regular chicken meatball. Furthermore, it wasn’t overly salted, so those are both big pluses for the dish. But I can’t help but feel like avoiding thinking about the skewer too much because I am so full. In this case though, I can’t quite say the amount of food is a misstep. I came here 15 min late so a few of my courses were sped up.
16. Chicken crown skewer-
One of 2 optional skewers I ordered. 2 rooster crowns and 2 hen crowns. Indeed, as had been mentioned to me several times , the hen crown was much softer but both are some of the chewiest crunchiest substances I’ve invested, frankly don’t plan to order this again. Because, without an iota of exaggeration, I can feel my jaw clenching. It just wasn’t my favorite because of how hard it was to chew. But that said, it’s a bit floral and very earthy which are 2 elements of chicken not usually highlighted. Happy to have tried and have no doubt they cooked it perfectly , but not for me. Perhaps a case where more salt, or more likely a marinade would do well. Honestly though, this isn’t really even something worth reviewing, I’m not sure others would be compelled to have it unless they already knew they liked it.
17. Chicken ovary with Fallopian tube and liver-
The construction of the dish was the egg at the bottom, the fried tube in the middle, and that draped over the liver. I think that might be the richest thing I’ve eaten. Honestly, it was absolutely delicious and I don’t even like egg that much. The egg tasted like bernaise almost, which was amazing since it coated the liver that has that fermenty taste I talked about earlier. That creamy, buttery chicken element works very well with the liver. I don’t have a good comparison because these are a set of flavors I’ve basically never had. The tube was a little chewy and with so much going on, I’m not sure it was needed, but it was actually pretty good all the same. It felt like a chewier tail in some ways actually. To be honest, if marketed as such, this would be up there with truffle and uni as one of those unctuous delicacies. The only maini issue here is that all 3 things together make the skewer a bit unwieldy. Also, since I was so full, I couldn’t properly enjoy it as much as I would have liked to. But that’s again, on me.
18. Niku chicken sauce Udon niku with skin and liver bits-
This seems to be their take on a “chicken noodle soup” which makes sense to include somewhere. This one, I was straight up too full to properly evaluate it. Overall, it’s a pretty bad dish. The noodles are objectively bad udon. They are just very soft, and while they don’t disintegrate, they might as well. Udon isn’t like Xian Lamian so it isn’t supposed to be that chewy, but all the same, it’s supposed to be soft yet still require a reasonable bite. This was not the case here. Similarly, they should be very round and smooth, again a characteristic absent here. The liver has no good role here and despite being bits, is very rich. I also am inclined against niku udon, but even more so here where it’s more syrupy and glossy which fights against the natural sweetness of chicken and even the umami of the chicken. I will say the chicken skin was amazing, as always. But again, I am not looking for that richness in either an udon or more broadly, a chicken noodle soup. Lastly, those perfumed, floral and herbaceous notes of udon are completely absent here. It fundamentally didn’t have a direction and was the opposite of the beauty of Kono which was its balance.
19. Okinawan black sugar crème brulee-
I loved this dessert. Creme brulee was actually the first thing I ever cooked in my life so I am biased towards the dish also. In this case though, the nuttiness from the black sugar helped deepen the flavor of a naturally decadent dessert. It was surprisingly light even with the velvety custard underneath the sugar shell. Underneath approximately a sixth of the shell was about a centimeter or so of overcooked custard, but that wasn’t much of a detraction.
Kono was hands down, one of my favorite meals of the year. As mentioned, I had been to pretty much every yakitori place in manhattan and was just waiting to go here and am very happy that I did. The absolute creativity ATS brings to this tradition of cooking is staggering. It is not uncommon to get "unconventional" chicken parts in yakitori. But what is uncommon is for these preparations to highlight their unconventionality.
Moreover, as I mentioned before, there is a clear progression of flavors that ATS takes the eater through. It goes simple to intense and back to simple several times over, just with different flavors taking stage. And what is very clear here is that by both choosing when to give specific skewers and what each one is accompanied with, ATS can highlight the elements of the ingredients that make you like them.
While I would have to actually go through my notes for the entire year, I'm inclined to say the highs of this meal were as high as any other this year, with maybe only Ko having the clear best couple of bites for me. That said, there were some lows. While I appreciate the gumption in some of the dishes' constructions, sometimes they didn't meet expectations, and occasionally they fell far from them.
The key to Kono's excellence is their understanding of balance. Balance in flavors, in textures, and in cooking methods. The pieces will be crispy, juicy, toothsome, tender, salty, sweet, savory, smoky, charred, acidic, and fatty in all the best ways. But one way Kono does this is by withholding what needs to be to let the other components shine. While other restaurants certainly do so, Kono makes that talent more transparent.
In some ways, I'd say the restaurant isn't trying to be as ambitious as Ko or Chef's table or even Luthun, but they accomplish the goals they set out to perfectly. ATS expressed a thesis and proved it over the course of a meal without letting the overall expression become unwieldy. It's cooking artistry at its best.