Can’t make it to Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji Market before it relocates? All the more reason to help this stateside Japanese-style fish market open.
It’s easy to find great butchers in New York City, but high-quality fish markets aren’t so prolific — even with the Atlantic Ocean so close by. That’s why the team behind Brooklyn’s Okonomi restaurant is Kickstarting a Japanese-style fish market selling locally sourced seafood in their home borough called Osakana ('honor your fish' in Japanese). 'Our aim is to help diversify the local food economy and revive the city’s connection with its neighboring ocean,' the team writes on the Kickstarter page. 'To do this, Osakana will not only offer a seasonal selection of local seafood for customers to purchase, but it will also provide a community space in which people can learn more about these ingredients through discussions, meals, tastings, and classes.'
The team has already found a location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and hopes to open in July of this year if they reach their goal of $50,000, of which they’ve currently raised just over half. With twenty-seven days to go, though, the owners are pushing to hit their stretch goals. If they hit $75,000, they’ll open a six-seat ramen bar in the back of the space, while $100,000 will mean a special omakase nook for dinners pairing seafood and sashimi with Japanese whiskeys.
Want to support the market? Here are some of the reward incentives: $25 gets you the chance to be a guest recipe tester for an upcoming cookbook, $175 earns you an engraved chef’s knife and for $300 you can get a private fish butchery class from Okonomi chef Yuji Haraguchi.
This article originally appeared on Food & Wine
The team has already found a location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and hopes to open in July of this year if they reach their fundraising goal.
If they exceed their goals, they’ll open a 6-seat ramen bar in the back of the space, and a special omakase nook for dinners pairing seafood and sashimi with Japanese whiskeys.