Eater critic Bill Addison travels the country all year looking for the best the nation’s restaurants have to offer. His annual assessment of the best new restaurants in America this year includes a unique Austin restaurant that hybridizes Japanese and Central Texas traditions. When he first looked at the menu at the izakaya-smokehouse Kemuri Tatsu-Ya, Addison thought, “Welcome to Gimmick Town.”
Brisket at Kemuri. (Credit: Ricardo B. Brazziell)
Then he tried the mash-up of East and West in dishes like octopus fritters with chili and poke with guacamole and thought, “Genius.” Read what else he had to say about the restaurant from chefs Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya “Tako” Matsumoto. This is the second time this year that Kemuri has received praise from a national publication. GQ’s Brett Martin named it one of the country’s 10 best new restaurants in April.
- For my full review from earlier this year, check out: Cultural exchange: Excellent Kemuri Tatsu-Ya mashes up Texas and Japan
Xochi, the new Oaxaca-inspired restaurant from recent James Beard winner Hugo Ortega of Houston, was the only other Texas restaurant to make the list.
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- Statesman review: Cultural exchange: Excellent Kemuri Tatsu-Ya mashes up Texas and Japan
