Can Baltimore Support An Izakaya?

[darkstar965]

"New Restaurants Opening Adjacent To Four Seasons" by Jane Marion on baltimoremagazine.net on June 9, 2014.

Bit off topic from the coffee shop closure but this bit from the article to which you linked is interesting:

"Though the Four Seasons Baltimore isn't commenting, Baltimore wasn't ready for Pabu's Japanese Izakaya cuisine that's more popular in San Francisco where the Mina Group is based. "The past few months, I've been all over the country looking at Japanese restaurants, and Pabu wasn't as well run as it could have been," Smith says."

Baltimore not ready for an izakaya? I suspect the last line about mismanagement is closer to the truth given the success of great spots like Seki in DC.

[Keithstg]

Baltimore not ready for an Izakaya? I suspect the last line about mismanagement is closer to the truth given the success of great spots like Seki in DC.

I'm speculating just as much as you are, but Baltimore and DC are vastly different markets despite their proximity. Not super surprised that Baltimore couldn't support an izakaya.

[DonRocks]

I'm speculating just as much as you are, but Baltimore and DC are vastly different markets despite their proximity. Not super surprised that Baltimore couldn't support an Izakaya.

Now that you said it, I'll come out and say that I thought the same thing you did; I just didn't want to mention it because in a sense, it's insulting an entire city.

On the other hand, they've had a gift which has lain at their feet for years, and they can't support that either.

[darkstar965]

I'm speculating just as much as you are, but Baltimore and DC are vastly different markets despite their proximity. Not super surprised that Baltimore couldn't support an Izakaya.

As valid a speculative point as any. Maybe the downtown and higher end Harbor East? A city that can support Woodberry Kitchen, a Four Seasons, and some serious coffee shops (e.g., Spro, Artifact)? Not sure but maybe right up there with all the pundits now claiming the Nats are a lock for the World Series this year with Scherzer? And we know how that turned out when Manager Davey Johnson predicted it in 2012. :-)

[DonRocks]

As valid a speculative point as any. Maybe the downtown and higher end Harbor East? A city that can support Woodberry Kitchen, a Four Seasons, and some serious coffee shops (e.g., Spro, Artifact)? Not sure but maybe right up there with all the pundits now claiming the Nats are a lock for the World Series this year with Scherzer? And we know how that turned out when Manager Davey Johnson predicted it in 2012. :-)

True Izakayas (having scoured them in Seattle and especially Vancouver) are essentially neighborhood pubs; they couldn't survive at the Harbor because of rent (and would never set up shop there). South Charles Street / Federal Hill, or maybe Mount Vernon, would be more likely locales for them. Could an authentic Japanese Izakaya survive at these locations? I don't think so - not yet.

[darkstar965]

True Izakayas (having scoured them in Seattle and especially Vancouver) are essentially neighborhood pubs; they couldn't survive at the Harbor because of rent (and would never set up shop there). South Charles Street / Federal Hill, or maybe Mount Vernon, would be more likely locales for them. Could an authentic Japanese Izakaya survive at these locations? I don't think so - not yet.

Yup. That's the essence of the good debate...and speculation. I cited Harbor East just as a measure of an afea's affluence and sophistication. Some significant percentage of regulars who might shop the Whole Foods there aren't tourists or business travelers and live locally. Hence the though that maybe one of the neighborhoods you cite could be viable if the Izakaya had someone with real business savvy involved. But, like everyone else, not sure and haven't researched it.

[Cizuka Seki]

Baltimore not ready for an Izakaya?

Not super surprised that Baltimore couldn't support an Izakaya.

Could an authentic Japanese Izakaya survive at these locations? I don't think so - not yet.

Is there any particular reason why izakaya is written with a captal I? i know foreign words should be in italics (...i do not have access to this function).

it's not a pronoun....am i forgetting some grammatical rule?

[darkstar965]

Is there any particular reason why izakaya is written with a captal I? i know foreign words should be in italics (...i do not have access to this function).it's not a pronoun....am i forgetting some grammatical rule?

I think you're right. Only should be capitalized when part of a proper name like "Izakaya Seki." Or when part of a title like the one for this thread, written by Don. Corrected mine above. :-).

[Cizuka Seki]

ha! good to know my liberal arts education still comes in handy :-)

[Tweaked]

I would say the problem was Pabu being at the Four Seasons. Does anyone think the young and hip of Baltimore are going to go to the Four Seasons? It was a silly restaurant idea.

[DonRocks]

I would say the problem was Pabu being at the Four Seasons. Does anyone think the young and hip of Baltimore are going to go to the Four Seasons? It was a silly restaurant idea.

People, including Washingtonian, mistakenly think Kushi - whose "robata" was partially cooked *sous-vide* for God's sake - ushered in the concept of the izakaya to Washington, DC. Kushi opened in March, 2010, but what everyone has forgotten is that two months before that, in January, 2010, The Source was actually the first to introduce the concept, at least in name.

I understand you didn't ask for my opinion, but I'll offer it up anyway: the concepts were both equally silly, and until Seki and Daikaya came along, over two years later, we never had anything close to an authentic izakaya.

In Vancouver, I had raw horse meat (basashi) at an izakaya. How do you think that would go over in Baltimore?

For the curious:

[darkstar965]

I would say the problem was Pabu being at the Four Seasons. Does anyone think the young and hip of Baltimore are going to go to the Four Seasons? It was a silly restaurant idea.

Agree on Pabu. Putting aside the business and high-roller types staying at Four Seasons hotels, the local parents of the "young and hip of Baltimore" probably would like Wit and Wisdom and an izakaya closer to home. :-)

[porcupine]

i know foreign words should be in italics (...i do not have access to this function).

You should...  hit "reply" then look at the top of the box - from left to right there should see  B  I  U  S  (etc).   With your cursor highlight the text you want to italicize, then select the I.

[Keithstg]

As valid a speculative point as any. Maybe the downtown and higher end Harbor East? A city that can support Woodberry Kitchen, a Four Seasons, and some serious coffee shops (e.g., Spro, Artifact)? Not sure but maybe right up there with all the pundits now claiming the Nats are a lock for the World Series this year with Scherzer? And we know how that turned out when Manager Davey Johnson predicted it in 2012. :-)

 

I also doubt Baltimore can support a Four Seasons long term. I have stayed at that property approx 10-15 nights a year since it opened and while nice, it's never more than 1/2 full, to say nothing of the goat rodeo that has been the condo project there. While I agree that Harbor East is affluent, it's what, a three/ four block radius? I also agree that the Four Seasons location was likely not a help versus a "neighborhood" location.

Not to say that Baltimore can't/ won't get there, just that the dining scene there is in its infancy compared to Washington (apologies to Spike Gjerdje and Cindy Wolf).