Halloween Night at Hibino

On Halloween night, kitchen staff became "Tekiya" -- Japanese traditional peddler. They usually set up portable stalls at markets and traditional festivals called "Matsuri."
Their typical outfits include "Koikuchi Shirts" and "Haramaki ('belly warmer')."















Chef Masaru (with Elvis Hair :-) and Kunitaro.















Chef Hiro, making serious face.















Yuji and nicely face painted Shinya ;-)



















Server Akiko was busy working like bee.



















And flew away...















Cute Cat girl Mariko.



















Futuristic flight attendant R-san.















Tennis girl Ikuko.



















I became "Matsuri" goer.
In Japan, "Matsuri" happens usually during the summer time.
So, people go to "Matsuri," especially woman, tend to wear "Yukata (Casual version of Japanese traditional kimono)."

Hope to see you again at next Halloween Night!

Hibino Halloween Report

How was your Halloween?
Hibino's first Halloween was a funny one.















Chefs disguised as "salary man."
(Japanese corporate guys who over worked and permanently tired. Some do drop dead from over working!) They were expressing the fatigue of a Japanese salary man really really well, I think ;-)
















Our manager Hinata & sever Kuu.
Hinata is a pretty girl & Kuu is a handsome guy.
But you can't really tell with this make up...




















Server Rie & Kuu.
Kuu was doing "Hikaru GENJI (Japanese male idol group)" and "GENJI (famous character from Hikaru Genji--written in Heian era--by Shikibu Murasaki)" at the same time.
















Cow girl Niki & Shiho the cow clearing the table.
Getting ready for moo guests.

Nobu-kun Center Stage

Last week, Kurebayashi-san from YT-design brought us a big fluke he fished.
Nobu-kun was on its case.
He was preparing ("sabaku" in Japanese) fluke for Sashimi.
We were surrounding Nobu-kun and watched him chopping a fluke as if it was a short show.
He performed really well and the fluke was delicious!
(Thank you, Kurebayashi-san!)

Visit from old friend

This is Timon in Hibino chef coat!

He is a former co-worker of Hirohisa & Masaru.
He now works in Miami, but managed to visit us in Brooklyn on Thursday night.
(He is a really great guy/chef :-)
Both Hirohisa & Masaru were so happy to see you, Timon!!

Vendor @ Hibino: Japanese Things!

We have several vendors at Hibino as same as other restaurants out there.
But there is a special kind of vendor for Japanese restaurants.
They sell Japanese things (dry foods, oil, nori, Japanese kitchen supplies, etc.) .
There are couple of such companies in NY area, and we mainly use two companies: Kyodo-san (NY Mutual Trading) & Daiei-san (Daiei Trading Co.). These two companies and their sales agents helped us a lot when we were setting up Hibino. They have been very flexible and helpful for a newbie like us. We can not thank them more!


















Here's Yoshida-san from Daiei-san.


















Here's Tonokawa-san from Kyodo-san.

They are super nice and able.
Say hello if you see them :-)

Chiki Chiki Machine Obanzai Race (Wacky Obanzai Races) Participant

Here's the race participant & their Obanzai Ideas!















Hinata
Black Peppered Tofu Popcorn Skewers with Sesame Sauce















Shiho
Tuna Fish and Cream Cheese Crispy Dumplings















Mami
Chicken Nanban:
Fried then sweet soy vinegar marinated chicken with tartar sauce















Etsuko
Hiyashi Udon:
Chilled udon noodle soup with shiitake, daikon, carrot, radish sprouts and shredded thin egg omelet















Meiko
Daigaku Imo:
Candied fried sweet potatoes















Kuu
Chikuzen Ni:
Organic chicken stew in the northern Kyushu style, lotus root, burdock, carrot and konnyaku(jellylike potato starch paste)















Nobu
Moro-Q:
Fresh Japanese cucumber sticks with barley miso dip


Please come over to Hibino to enjoy these Obanzai
Or cast your vote via e-mail!
(Don't forget to include both winner & runner up)

Otasuke-man: Mighty Helpers

This is Arisa-san.
Super skillful Sushi-girl!














This cute shy lady is Shiho-san.
She comes to Hibino after her regular work. She helps around every corner at Hibino.














This is Vicente.
He is a Sushi chef, but was helping serving & dish washing this day.


We are so fortunate.

As you already know by now, we are a very small capital restaurant.
(In fact, micro capital restaurant! It's a miracle we came this far..., really...)
So, we couldn't hire enough staff for the opening month.
We weren't sure how many people would come to eat at our place.
But if you hire somebody, (even if you have no money) you have to pay them.

For opening month, instead of hiring extra person (since we weren't sure of financial outcome of our place), we are having a bunch of helpers. They are friends and former colleagues of chefs and staff. They are chefs, waiters, and regular office workers. They equally contributed to Hibino's operation. Without them, we wouldn't be standing here (without any exaggeration).

I introduced some of them already, but we'd like to give our thanks to them again.
Thank you so much, Mukai-kun, Choi-kun, Jin-kun, Xue-kun, Yanagi-san, Hiroshi-kun, Arisa-san, Shiho-san, Vicente!
And last, but not least, Chiaki-san who is in Japan now.

Hopefully, we can hire extra person very soon. So we can serve you faster ;-)

HMF Project & Today's Helper

Hibino's construction is almost over. We still have small projects/installations to be completed, but all the major work is done! Phew!!














This is not a final conclusion, but I believe more and more that Tomato-chan is a weed... Other spouts' stem has lots of hair, but Tomato-chan's stem is bold. Well, well, well... As I said before, I still love Tomato-chan.














Basil leaves are growing slowly, but surely.














This is today's helper Mukai-kun.
You might not see him that much, but he's one of the most-frequent-helper of Hibino. He comes to help during the prep time quite often. Thank you, Mukai-kun. We all appreciate your generous help!

HMF Project Quick update & Yoji-kun

Sprouts of Tomato are growing!
?????
But they look different from my "Tomato-chan."
Could my cute little "Tomato-chan" have been a weed?
Well, I'll keep eyes on both "bunch of sprouts" and MY "Tomato-chan."
Tomato-chan.
Even if you were a weed, I still love you!














Yoji-kun from YT Design came over on Saturday night (not to work but to eat!). They had Shrimp Toji Maki, Warm Tofu, Eel Croquette, Beef Kakuni, Kyoto Hakosihi & Anago Hakosushi. Yum, Yum!

First Week...

This is cutie-super-helper chef Chiaki holding our Fresh-made Tofu. She came to help our opening week all the way from Japan. But she is leaving us soon... We'll miss her so much...

Anyway, rainy Sunday night is a perfect time to recollect our first week.

First of all, we'd like to thank everybody who came to our place.
You would never know how much encouragement you gave us.
Hibino is our first restaurant/venture, so we weren't sure what would happen.
We had been speculating worst case scenario so many times...

Also we are so happy that we had many people coming from the neighborhood.
I heard people saying:
"We live down the block!"
"Came from just around the corner."
"Across the street", etc.

When we decided to open a restaurant at this location, we envisioned a neighborhood restaurant. As I said before in the blog, it is not an ideal location for the restaurant. But we though we could make it work if we could get a support from people live around.
It is too early to tell we can financially survive or not, but we are hoping to stay here and keep serving you a good meal at a reasonable price.
So please come over again! If you come, we can stay here!!

Wednesday Night

Last night, our business was bit slow.
But because of that, I could take some pictures!














Ladies are enjoying the night and our food.
On the table:
Hibino Teriyaki Chicken (center)
Obanzai Croquette
Fresh made Tofu
Okura Ohitashi














Agedashi Tohu.
We use house made Tofu for Agedashi, too!














Spicy Tuna Roll.














Today's helpers.
Hiyohisa & Masaru's chef friends are coming to rescue us (they are taking turns) for our opening week. Aren't they nice??

Party Time!

We made it!!
We had lots of unfinished area, but managed to open for pre-opening party.














Chefs are working busy!
From front, Masaru, Hirohisa, and Chiaki.
Chiaki used to work with Hirohisa & Masaru @ Sushi Samba.
She lives in Japan now, but flew over Pacific to rescue us for the opening.














"Born" was the main beverage of the party.
[It is unfiltered / Fresh unprocessed sake. Aged in a regulated -10 degrees Celsius environment, this sake conjures a rich aroma and fresh full-bodied flavor]














People from Mark Morris Dance Group.
(I'm big fun of them!! They are fabulous company!)