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Chef Masaharu Morimoto is putting the finishing touches to the third installment of his ramen and yakitori Izakaya restaurant concept Momosan, which opens in Seattle’s International District on September 5th.
The Japanese ‘Iron Chef’ Morimoto already runs Momosan restaurants in New York and Honolulu. The Seattle iteration has been a long time in the making with demand high in the city for Japanese food. Much like San Francisco further south Seattle has always had a thriving Japanese population and the county’s cuisine has long since passed into the city’s mainstream cultural identity.
Morimoto has a long-standing love of Seattle, being a lifelong baseball fan, who once played himself in his hometown of Hiroshima and even harboured dreams of playing in the big leagues himself until injury cut his fledgling career down and steered him towards cooking.
It was while visiting Seattle to watch the game and visit his good friend Ichiro Suzuki that the idea of opening a Momosan began to take root. The chef was constantly approached by people who would excitedly ask him if he was opening a restaurant in Seattle. Three years later and the restaurant, set on the ground floor of the Publix building and kitted out with a sleek, urban look by BLANK Design, the dream is all but realized.
Momosan Seattle will feature unique dishes that aren’t found in its sister establishment, pig’s feet and jellyfish being examples. However, diners can expect to find the ramen and other Japanese greats Morimoto is famous for such as Tonkatsu ramen, pig ear, grilled oysters, chicken gizzards and heart from the yakitori grill.
The ‘Iron Chef’ will not rest on his laurels, however, and once Momosan Seattle is u and running he will fly to Kyoto to open his 18th restaurant in Pontocho Alley.
