Take a sneak peek at Himitsu in Atlanta
A spin-off of Umi, Atlanta’s most celebrated and sophisticated sushi restaurant , Himitsu is a modern Tokyo-style cocktail lounge, surprisingly situated in a 1,300-square-foot space among a row of offices at One Buckhead Plaza.
Scallop Tiradito, Peruvian-style ceviche with Hokkaido diver scallop sashimi, cilantro, sea salt, yuzu juice and Aji amarillo paste, is sweet, sour and spicy. (BECKY STEIN PHOTOGRAPHY.COM)
The name means “secret” in Japanese. The mystery is hidden in plain sight behind a faux storefront. Entrance requires a reservation, then a keypad code that opens a mechanical door to a black box anteroom, where you’re checked in for a table or seat at the bar.
If all that sounds exclusive, it is, including the upscale design, original artwork, Japanese plates and Baccarat stemware.
The project from Umi partners and art and culture mavens, Charlie Hendon of Hendon Properties and Farshid Arshid of Fontanell Management, is another showcase for Umi sushi master Fuyuhiko Ito and his equally creative pastry chef wife, Lisa Matsuoka Ito.
The beverage program is the creation of Shingo Gokan, the exacting artistic force behind Angel’s Share in New York City — a speakeasy spot tucked away inside a Japanese restaurant that helped launch the craft cocktail revolution. T. Fable Jeon, one of Atlanta’s best young bartenders, is in charge of Himitsu, and contributing his own classic cocktail takes.
While he was in town recently for a pop-up event at Umi, Gokan explained that the Himitsu cocktail menu features seven signature drinks and seven classic twists.
“Each drink is named after the main ingredient of the cocktail in Japanese,” Gokan said. “For example, the Toryufu is truffle in Japanese.” The drink is made with pear-infused vodka, sweetened with white truffle honey, topped with sparkling Indian tonic and served in a flute with a thin slice of black truffle for garnish.
“I try to make it simple, with not too many ingredients,” Gokan said. “But I make it taste more complex with a combination of interesting flavors. In the future, we will do more with food pairings. Cocktail pairings are potentially better than with sake or wine because you can focus the ingredients to the dish.”
For his part, Fuyuhiko Ito’s Himitsu menu is a concise offering of 10 to 12 small plates and shares, such as edamame hummus, tuna “pizza” and caviar service, plus a few favorites carried over from Umi.
Scallop Tiradito is Peruvian-style ceviche with Hokkaido diver scallop sashimi, cilantro, sea salt, yuzu juice and Aji amarillo paste. “That dish is sweet, sour and spicy,” Ito said. “But all the dishes are about Umi having access to fresh, raw ingredients, so we can use sashimi grade stuff and make beautiful small plates here.”
Among Lisa Ito’s crave-worthy desserts, there’s a Hojicha roasted green tea creme brulee, presented in a delicate lidded pottery vessel with Karinto Japanese tea cookies.
The Itos acknowledge Arshid as the “mastermind” and the “mad scientist” behind the concept, mixing a potion of top talents, including designer/architect Tom Dixon of London’s Design Research Studio, known for his high concept interiors and eccentric use of raw materials in projects such the London Mondrian Hotel Sea Containers House.
“With Ito san and Shingo san being involved, and this being Tom Dixon’s first room in the U.S., it almost became like an all-star team,” Arshid said. “Everybody we talked to about it thought we meant it was going to be in New York. Nobody thought Atlanta. We did a partnership with Baccarat for all the crystal stemware. That’s pretty crazy, just like everything else.”
The centerpiece of the lounge is a darkly dramatic, large-format painting by Atlanta artist Todd Murphy, titled “King of the Birds.” The bar is a seamless 20-foot run of copper, with more copper elements echoed in the back bar and the loft upstairs. The floors and walls are layered in blackened end grain white oak. The theatrical lighting casts a moody glow over it all.
“I think Tom used over 30 different surfaces in 1,300 square feet,” Arshid said. “It is one of the hardest build-outs I’ve ever done. But it’s truly like a little hand-crafted Japanese jewel box.”
Scroll down for a taste of what to expect if you visit Himitsu.
Pastry chef Lisa Ito’s crave-worthy Hojicha roasted green tea creme brulee is presented in a delicate lidded pottery vessel with Karinto Japanese tea cookies (BECKY STEIN PHOTOGRAPHY.COM)
Husband and wife chefs Fuyuhiko Ito and Lisa Matsuoka Ito outside the “secret” entrance to Himitsu, opening at One Buckhead Plaza. (BECKY STEIN PHOTOGRAPHY.COM)
At Himitsu, T. Fable Jeon serves the Toryufu cocktail made with pear-infused vodka, sweetened with white truffle honey and served in a flute with a thin slice of black truffle for garnish. (BECKY STEIN PHOTOGRAPHY.COM)
At Himitsu, T. Fable Jeon serves the Toryufu cocktail made with pear-infused vodka, sweetened with white truffle honey and served in a flute with a thin slice of black truffle for garnish. (BECKY STEIN PHOTOGRAPHY.COM)
Japanese-style Bloody Mary by 2012 Bacardi World Legacy Competition winner Shingo Gokan, Himitsu's beverage program director. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM
Shingo Gokan makes a Japanese-style Bloody Mary at Umi in April, preparing for Himitsu's opening. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM
