Angel’s Share speakeasy owners open sit-down Japanese restaurant at Industry City
Photo courtesy of Industry City
A new sit-down restaurant has opened in the Japanese food court at Sunset Park’s Industry City complex. From the owners of popular speakeasy Angel’s Share, Wakuwaku is a 3,200-square-foot izakaya at Japan Village with 60 seats and private tatami mat rooms. Wakuwaku, currently just serving lunch as part of its soft opening, will offer Japanese-style tapas and shochu-based cocktails when the full dinner menu launches.
Constructed by Japanese carpenters, Wakuwaku’s design puts the open-air kitchen front and center. The space is filled with traditional touches, including paper lanterns, Japanese art, imported tiles, and handwritten signs.
The lunch menu is “designed for patrons in a hurry” with meal sets including pork katsu cutlet, salmon teriyaki, unagi eel, and grilled saba mackerel. Lunch, priced between $15 and $21, is served Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.
Cocktails will launch alongside the dinner menu, with sake, shochu, and Japanese beer on the menu. According to a press release, diners can even juice their own lemons at the table for to make a handcrafted Lemon-Chuhai shochu drink.
Erina Yoshida, who co-owns Wakuwaku and Japan Village, said the Industry City community has embraced the food hall. “It was important for us to build an izakaya to give our community an inviting space to relax after work, share a bite with friends, and indulge the way the Japanese do in an izakaya,” Yoshida said. “Wakuwaku complements our busy food hall, offering a relaxed vibe with interesting cocktails and shareable bites.”
Tony Yoshida, Erina’s father, is responsible for many Japanese establishments in New York City. In addition to Japan Village and Wakuwaku, he owns the local chain grocery store Sunrise Mart, East Village restaurants Kyo Ya and Village Yokocho, as well as the bar Angel’s Share.
The same team also opened last December the bar Oldies, which serves Japanese cocktails. Japan Village opened in 2018 at Industry City, the 16-building office complex on the Brooklyn waterfront, and includes 11 vendors, a Japanese liquor store, and its own Sunrise Mart.
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All photos courtesy of Industry City
