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Craft Izakaya, Atlanta Craft Izakaya, which opened last sum- mer in Atlanta's refurbished Krog Street Market, is billed as offering "small plates Japanese cuisine." It is operated by chef- owner Jey Oh, who also owns Sushi Huku Japanese Restaurant in Atlanta. Housed in a former 1920s ware- house and manufacturing facility, an eight-stool craft cocktail bar fronts the restaurant. Announced by a traditional brushstroke logo, the adjacent entrance leads into a 2,000-square-foot space with high ceilings, industrial-style exposed duct work and dangling Edison bulbs. The restaurant's mezzanine level serves as a separate dining space. "The interior is all about warmth and wood," says general manager Richard Tang. "It has a lot of the wood elements of the traditional izakaya style, dark-stained pine and some repurposed wood." At the back of the room resides a full-length sushi bar with 10 stools where customers can watch the chefs at work. Following the Japanese tradi- tion, a communal table that seats 18 to 20 guests adorns the center of the room. Closely spaced deuces make for a total of 86 seats. "There is the izakaya element of people enjoying food and drink together," notes Tang. "I want people looking over and saying, 'What's that? I want to try what they're having.'" A large window that allows guests to watch signature skewers of yakitori sizzling on a traditional Japanese bin- chotan charcoal grill serves as a theatri- cal element of Craft Izakaya's design. The extensive menu, each item illustrated with pictures as is often done in Japan, includes small plates of grilled and teriyaki fried foods as well as sushi and sashimi. In another whimsical touch, Craft Izakaya provides guests with free cones of wata-gashi, a cotton candy- like Japanese festival treat. Craft displays the restaurant's sho- chu and sake collection behind the sushi bar. The drink menu includes classic and specialty Japanese and American cocktails, craft beers and a short wine selection. The cocktail bar was built to Tang's specs and is ftted with a special glass rinser and drain as well as a trough that keeps garnishes and other ingredi- ents cold. "We have every toy possible," he boasts. That includes mixology tools such as carbonation devices, foamers, dehydrators and sous vide circulators. + 1 6 • R E S T A U R A N T D E V E L O P M E N T + D E S I G N • M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 TREND The izakaya upstairs is designed as a gathering place, with a large bar in the center recreating the social aspect of Japanese izakayas. A wooden back- bar showcases the restaurant's wide- ranging selection of sake, shochu and Japanese whisky. Beer is served as well. With total seating for 90, the izakaya has 16 stools at the bar and a drop-leaf communal table that accommodates up to 10 guests. A mixture of seating types and vintage lighting ensure that each table has a different feel, while rope dividers and raised booths give diners a sense of privacy. Japanese fabrics are tacked to walls and acoustic panels line the ceilings, allowing for conversation. The space, including the ramen shop and back-of-the-house areas, totals about 5,000 square feet. "The izakaya is substantially bigger than anything we saw in Japan," concedes Miller, but "at the end of the day it is a restaurant in America, where there's more space." One key to authenticity that Miller and the partners worked hard to convey was the patina of usage and time. "It was very important to the owners that the place felt like if one thing broke they could replace it with something else — or had already done so. That things don't match; the feeling that this place changes over time." Thus the eclectic mix of seating and lighting fxtures, and the selection of mismatched dishes and glassware in varied patterns and colors. The designer also used several types of wood in the space to obtain that haphazard, layered look of past repairs and additions. The bar features a pine top, for example; wood so soft it accumulates dents and marks from bottles and cutlery. Details like that, says Miller, "start to tell the story of the life of the restaurant over time." Photo by Matthew M. Wong