Food

101 Percent

Two Magnificent Japanese Spots at 101 California

None 9 Photos The Ramen Bar and Pabu
A lot of things are getting done at 101 California these days.

Money flies around. Contracts fly around. And most frenetically of all, delicious-smelling ramen gently simmers...

Do what you must to wait for The Ramen Bar (left) and Pabu, a new pair of sterling Japanese power-lunching spots from the Hana chef and the Michael Mina Group, opening Monday and Tuesday, respectively, on 101 California’s ground floor.

The Ramen Bar. That’s the casual one. You can kind of guess by the name. It would be weird to have a super-fancy place called the Ramen Bar. It’s only open weekdays, so yeah. Full of people from upstairs and from other buildings, and people who want four kinds of ramen while surrounded by shipping sails, rope, old wood—it’s meant to look like an old Japanese fishing village, just with more bankers.

Ah, but Pabu. Sweet, sweet Pabu. That’s the towering, generously barred, more-generously lanterned izakaya. This isn’t the place for a quick meal. This is the place to start with a couple Happy Spoon Oysters—they’re basically one-bite appetizers—and a cocktail that could have some wasabi in it, or an herb-infused ice ball, and probably some Japanese whiskey. Then comes the sushi, and/or the shabu-shabu, and/or the tempura...

Then comes the corporate card.

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