Saturday March 31st Special

Today's Obanzai:
• Rice Croquette with Eel and Shiso
• Hoku Hoku Potato (potato & butter)
• Warm Salad (Tomato & Zucchini)

Today's Miso Soup:
Wakame & Fresh-made Tofu

Special Sushi:
Roasted Duck Sushi

Hours & Reservation Policy

Basic info:
Mon-Thur 5:30 PM–10:00PM
Fri & Sat 5:30 PM–10:30 PM
Sun Closed

ALERT!!
But due to on-going renovation work, we are currently opening our door at 7 PM.
We'll be able to operate on regular hours from sometime next week.
(crossing my fingers!)
We'll let you know as soon as we find out ;-)

At this point, we are not taking reservations.

Liquor license still pending.
(crossing my fingers, again!!)

Friday March 30th Obanzai Special

• Rice croquette with Eel and Shiso
• Rice croquette with Salmon with QP Mayo
• Spring vegetable Ohitash (Nano hana, Okura, Asparagus, Greenbeans)
• Warm Salad (Tomato &

Today's Miso Soup:
Wakame & Fresh made Tofu

We'll open at 7 PM tonight.
Renovation is not done yet.
Sorry for our appearance...

"shoku ju shiki" — Planting Ceremony

Today, we had a "Planting Ceremony."
We planted the seeds of basil & tomato. We want to watch their growth as we try to grow and improve ourselves.

We will water the plants. Sun shines on them. The seeds will grow.
(and we might be able to serve "local farm" products to you :-)
You come to our place. Eat our food and tell us what you think. We will grow.

We are not perfect (which we fully realize), but we are willing to make changes.
Please do tell us what you think. Your comments are always always appreciated!














From left:
Masaru (chef), Chiaki (chef), Hinata (manager), Hirohisa (chef), and Kuu (server).

Thursday March 29th Obanzai Special

• Rice croquette with Eel and Shiso
• Rice croquette with Salmon with QP Mayo sauce
• Hiyashi Tomato (chilled Tomato)
• Spring vegetable Ohitash

We'll be open from 7 PM tonight.
See you!

Wednesday Night

Last night, our business was bit slow.
But because of that, I could take some pictures!














Ladies are enjoying the night and our food.
On the table:
Hibino Teriyaki Chicken (center)
Obanzai Croquette
Fresh made Tofu
Okura Ohitashi














Agedashi Tohu.
We use house made Tofu for Agedashi, too!














Spicy Tuna Roll.














Today's helpers.
Hiyohisa & Masaru's chef friends are coming to rescue us (they are taking turns) for our opening week. Aren't they nice??

Wed. 28th March Obanzai Special

Today's Obanzai:

• Rice croquette with Eel and Shiso
• Rice croquette with Salmon with QP Mayo sauce
• Tuna Tataki & Cucumber marinated in rice vinegar
• Hiyashi Tomato (chilled Tomato)
• Okura Ohitashi
• Mizuna Ohitashi
• Garlic Potato Roasted with Brown Rice Oil

Today we'll open for dinner at 7 PM.
Yes, construction is still going on...
(Sorry for our appearance.)

I haven't had a chance to take any photos lately.
But I'll capture some food images today -- I promise!

March 27th Obanzai Special

Today's Obanzai:

• Rice croquette with Eel and Shiso
• Tuna Tataki & Cucumber marinated in rice vinegar
• Garlic Potato Roasted with Brown Rice Oil

We'll open for Dinner at 6:30 PM.
See you there!

We are Open!!

We are finally open!
This is the "Kinen satuei (anniversary shot? in English??)" right before the opening.
Hope you guys like us ;-)

My apology to people who came over yesterday.
Sorry for the bumpy service -- we didn't expect this much people to show up.
We'll try our best to smooth it up everything ASAP.

Our regular open time is 5:30 PM, but we'll be opening a bit late this week.
(probably between 6 – 6:30 PM)
We still have some touching up to do.
But if you don't mind a bit of unfinished look, please come over.
Our chefs are ready to serve you!

Yesterday's Obanzai Special were:
• Rice croquette with Eel and Shiso
• Tuna Tataki & Cucumber marinated in rice vinegar
• Roasted Garlic potato with Rice Brown Oil

I'll do my best to post the Obanzai Special on the day of.
(Not yesterday's... like this post)

Hope to see you around!

Join the Test Drive!

We are not "officially" open yet.
But this weekend, we are open for "Test Drive."
We are serving limited menu.
Our space is not quite done yet.
Our service could be a bit bumpy.

Today, we had a small number of people came in for the ride.
We'll be open for tomorrow, from 6:30 PM to 10 PM.
(In regular schedule, we'll be closed on Sundays)
Our liquor license is still pending. So please BYO for the mean time.
(We started the liquor license process back in October thinking we'll have it done by the opening. Well, well, well. We were wrong.)

We can't offer you the full menu yet, but you can still have a bite of Hibino!

Party Time!

We made it!!
We had lots of unfinished area, but managed to open for pre-opening party.














Chefs are working busy!
From front, Masaru, Hirohisa, and Chiaki.
Chiaki used to work with Hirohisa & Masaru @ Sushi Samba.
She lives in Japan now, but flew over Pacific to rescue us for the opening.














"Born" was the main beverage of the party.
[It is unfiltered / Fresh unprocessed sake. Aged in a regulated -10 degrees Celsius environment, this sake conjures a rich aroma and fresh full-bodied flavor]














People from Mark Morris Dance Group.
(I'm big fun of them!! They are fabulous company!)

Can we really make it?

This photo was taken early afternoon, yesterday.
We have pre-opening party for press/local organizations tomorrow evening.
Yes, TOMORROW!
Since the time I took the photo, people have been working like crazy.
We have been going places and shopping last minutes stuff.

Our apology in advance for people coming for tomorrow's party.
You might see unfinished moldings or edge of the floor or some of those things.
But we, especially guys from Locus were (and are -- I think they are still working at this hour) working so so so hard.
So please come back again in a week or two to see more finished version of Hibino.

If everything goes well, we'll be opening on 26th of March.
Please come over whenever you have time (and hungry).
We'll be so happy to see you!

Progress report 5

Locus guys are putting their heads together.
They are working extremely hard.















Still lots of work.
But lights are in, bench seats are partially in.
Fridges are in. I think you'll see more progress tomorrow.

Tentative Opening Date

Tentative opening date is set for 26th of March.
(Yes, it is NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!)
We have a bit of uncertainty -- can we make it??
May be we can.
Because we have such a wonderful bunch of guys working for us.

People from Locus are working their butt off (sorry for my language!).

Tonight, we stop by at Hibino to drop off some stuff.
???
Lights were on.
When we went inside, we found Yoji-kun from YT design!















He was installing the ceiling speaker on SUNDAY night!
Tears came to our eyes... thank you, Yoji-kun.
(His official job is a field manager, if I might add)


















Now customers of Hibino can enjoy music!














Still lots of work needs to be done, but we'll do our best to pull this together.
We'll keep you posted!

Progress report 4

Hama-san at work.
He works so hard, all the time.
Go Hama-san, go!
Fate of Hibino is on your shoulder!















Sneak peek of the floor.
People from "Locus" did over time work to finish & dry the floor to keep the schedule.
Thank you, guys!!














Omi-san & Jose is putting up panels.
Cabinetry would be in soon!
Sinks are in, too.
It is really getting there.
But are WE ready????

Progress report 3: Floor!

This photo is from last Thursday.
(we have been so busy, and I couldn't update the blog)
Floor is in!















Chef Hirohisa is looking around his new place.
The floor would be stained and coated over the weekend.

Graffiti

"Hot!!"



















"Don't forget to screw in before close off"

We also hope they don't forget :-)

Progress report 2

It is coming together.


















Look, they started laying the floor.
Floor was half way done.














Discussing treatment for the window area.
(From left: Ms. Nakabayashi, Mr. Kaneko, Mr. Kurebayashi & Omi-san)















Jose is painting. Jose can do pretty much everything.



















I like the treatment of door as is.
But it'll be sealed and painted.

Locus

"Locus, NY" is the name of our general contractor.
(Locus: A place or locality, especially a center of activity)

We thought it is coincidental.
We want to be a "locus" for the people in the neighborhood.
Guys from "Locus" are making the space (hopefully) to be a locus.















Locus's owner Omi-san (Mr. Okamoto).















Jose is mixing, mixing, and















Voilá!
















Who's there?















It's Hama-san!

Gallery Hibino

Now days, inside of Hibino looks like a contemporary gallery.



















I see large scale abstract painting, and
















3D-ish painting (like Jasper Johns???).
















I also see contemporary objet.
















And pop art sculpture (2 Mickey Mouse dancing!).


Unfortunately, these are temporary exhibit.
As a curator, I'm recording the show for the people who couldn't make it here during the exhibit :-)

Progress!

Yes, it is getting there!
















Last week, Hama-san was putting up stone board here.
















Plumbing and wiring for sushi bar area is almost done.
















Weekly morning meeting at the site.
From left: Masaru (Hibino), Mr. Kurebayashi (YT Design), Mr. Omi (Locus NY), Ms. Nakabayashi (YT Design), and Hirohisa (Hibino).
Hope everything goes well.