COMING SOON... RAMEN!

Ivan Orkin had been eyeing 25 Clinton Street as the home for his first stateside ramen counter since the end of last year. He was approved a liquor license in January and now the Lower East Side ramen den has a sign up that reads, "Coming Soon... Ramen!"

The Long Island native moved to Tokyo with his wife in 2003, a time he's refered to as, "The beginning of the ramen boom." While living there, he opened two ramen spots, Ivan Ramen and Ivan Ramen Plus. At both locales, his shio ramen (one soup made from two broths) and homemade noodles (uncommon at the time in Tokyo ramen restaurants) were welcomed by the ramen community. Orkin's use of about 60/40 bread flour to udon flour to make the noodles introduced a new texture and unique bite to the array of ramen options - one that will soon be just a subway ride away.

Hanjan's Late-Night Ramyun

"Ramen is listed on the menu as ramyun," Wells wrote in his review of Hanjan, referring to the noodle dish that's only available after 10 p.m., "one of the large plates, which implies sharing," he continued. "I recommend eating it alone at the bar, where you can have all four slices of sweet pork to yourself and make as much noise as you want slurping the bouncy, squiggly noodles out of the steaming and chile-hot soup."

On a recent night, we did just that. It was close to midnight. There was no one at the bar and only two tables had people at them, one of which was Jean-Georges. We were only there for the ramen, because Hooni Kim starts simmering pork, chicken, fish bones, and chilies in water around noon everyday. Almost twelve hours later, the deep, spicy, rich broth is used to bathe tender, perfectly cooked noodles from Totto Ramen, a six-minute egg, scallions, and pork belly.

Makgoelli was the drink of choice. It's a wheat and rice fermented beverage - sort of a sake/saison hybrid. It's only slightly effervescent and it has a subtle sweetness that's perfect with the spicy noodles.

There was no shortage of flavor in the ramyun ($16), and the effort to source makgoelli ($9) does not go unnoticed. But neither does the price of late-night dining in Flatiron, where bigger spaces and higher rents affect the menu prices. When you compound these factors with the well-deserved attention Hooni Kim has received of late for his stellar cooking at Danji and Hanjan, the experience is likely to ring in a bit higher, which is why three bowls of ramen and three beers on 26th Street is $81 before tip.

Suzume Opening Tonight in Williamsburg

Michael Briones and Sam Barron are opening a humble restaurant on the corner of Devoe and Lorimer. Suzume, which means sparrow in Japanese, is bringing sushi and ramen to Williamsburg via 30 seats set in a cozy room rife with Eastern influence. Barron is a carpenter with two other Brooklyn projects to his name in Maggie Brown and The Emerson. Briones honed his ramen skills in the kitchen at Momofuku Noodle Bar and learned his way around fish filets during his time at Bond St. In addition to sushi and ramen, Briones' menu at Suzume is one of izakaya-inspired small plates and everything on it shares a focus on sourcing the freshest ingredients possible. The restaurant opens tonight at 6pm.

We were lucky enough to get invited to a soft opening earlier this week. Here's a look at what to expect from Suzume.

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Review: Ganso

Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Boerum Hill, and Downtown Brooklyn all converge at the newly opened Barclays Center in Brooklyn.  The borough has yet to see the full impact the new stadium will have, but many of the surrounding neighborhoods seem to be diving headfirst into New York’s recent ramen renaissance.  Park Slope got Naruto Ramen earlier this year.  In Prospect Heights, two Morimoto vets serve the dish at Chuko.  Smith Street, just out of the stadium’s reach in Carroll Gardens, recently welcomed Dassara Ramen.  While Boerum Hill and Fort Greene await their respective ramen spots, Downtown Brooklyn gets Japan’s iconic noodle dish at the hands of Harris Salat and Ryuji “Rio” Irie.

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Ivan Orkin Reveals the Menu for Tonight's Tasting at the Breslin

[melissa hom] orkin at noodle bar in july"Alright, the menu is official so start salivating and get a ticket for tonight, only a handful left!" is how an earlier tweet from Ivan Orkin read, in which he revealed the menu to tonight's pig butchering demonstration/5-course tasting/sake and sochu pairing taking place at the Breslin.

New Yorker's had a chance to taste Orkin's food earlier this year at two seperate "invasions" he did of Momofuku Noodle Bar.  Tonight's another shot at the recipe's Orkin's been perfecting at Sun Noodle in Teterboro, NJ.

The event serves to introduce Orkin's New York brethren (Orkin's a Long Island native) to the food that he will be serving when his Tokyo ramen export lands somewhere in downtown Manhattan early next year.  Tonight, April Bloomfield will do the butchering, Ivan Orkin will do the cooking.

Here's this from theBrown Paper Tickets page, where you can also get your ticket(s), "While living and working in Tokyo, Ivan closely followed the New York City restaurant scene and noticed the growing popularity of April's restaurants. Some of his dishes have been inspired by her cooking style and how he imagined she would prepare ramen at The Spotted Pig."

Dinner's tonight at 6pm.  Act fast.  Slurp Loudly.