One of the East Village’s favorite Udon spots is about to get a lot bigger.
Raku is a popular Japanese restaurant that centers around the work of Chef Nohiro Ishizuka. With over sixty years of culinary experience under his belt, Raku represents the culmination of his work in the industry, bringing to fruition his lifelong dreams of operating his own udon concept. As an homage to his own home cooking, Raku serves up Chef Ishizuka’s iconic bowls of chewy, silky noodles in a signature dashi soup alongside some of Japan’s most classic appetizers.
Raku is one of the crown jewels of Cloud Nine Hospitality Group, the team behind some of New York and Toronto’s most charming Asian-inspired restaurants. Some of their other recognizable concepts include Kura in the East Village, Patisserie Fouet in Union Square, and Faye Chen’s celebrated Double Chicken Please, rated by many to be one of New York’s top ten bars. Raku currently operates two locations in New York and one in Toronto, but their East Village outpost is about to undergo a significant expansion.
According to a recent liquor license application submitted to Community Board 3, Raku will be taking over the #4 restaurant space at 342 East 6th Street. While Raku has been operating out of the address’s #6 restaurant space for some time, They will soon be expanding into the next-door space that previously housed Kindred. Kindred was a popular Mediterranean restaurant and bar inspired by the Adriatic Sea, but they sadly closed down permanently earlier this year. Thankfully, their sister bar Ruffian is still going strong, and in their farewell Instagram post the Kindred team encouraged fans to visit Ruffian and show their support.
The new space will serve the same iconic udon that made Raku so popular in the first place, and will greatly expand the restaurant’s seating capacity. The expansion will add a new bar and nine tables, enabling the ramen joint to seat 26 guests inside. Additionally, there are also plans in place to establish an outdoor cafe just like Kindred had, which will enable Raku to serve an additional 22 guests outside.
The team is also looking to serve beer and cocktails in the new space, and are currently in the process of acquiring the necessary liquor license. They are proposing operating hours of 11:00 AM – 12:00 AM every day, seven days a week. For more information on of all their latest endeavors, you can follow Raku on Instagram.
