It would not be an exaggeration to say that ramen is now a part of American food. Since the early 2000s, the Japanese national noodle dish has become increasing popular in the US. Momofuku Noodle Bar opened in 2004 and caught New Yorkers’ attention by adding American elements to the Japanese traditional food such as using premium bacon in the soup, instead of traditional dashi stock. Shortly after the opening of Momofuku, notable Japanese ramen brands also brought branches to New York, including Ramen Setagaya and Ippudo. The popularity of ramen also triggered American chefs to open ramen joints nationwide, because unlike sushi, ramen has no rules and allows chefs to freely express their creativity.
Among the wide array of ramen shops, Ichiran is distinctively unique for offering the signature “solo-dining experience”.
At Ichiran, you will experience minimum human interactions from ordering, eating to paying. Enter the restaurant, and you are led to your seat at “the flavor concentration booth” where communication is only through a window with a bamboo screen. You are also isolated by the dividers on both sides. Sit down and the screen goes up enough to cover the server’s face, and you are handed an order sheet. Only thing you see is the server’s hands. The order sheet lets you create a perfect bowl to your taste with multiple options, including the level of saltiness, richness, amount of the secret sauce and the texture of the noodles. Once the ramen is delivered through the window, you are ready to focus on tasting the profound flavors of ramen in your bowl. (The experience reminds you of the famous scene in the film Tampopo where the master of ramen eating teaches the main character how to start and finish the bowl perfectly).
This somewhat odd concept of the solo-dining booth has proven quite successful. Ichiran was originally founded in Fukuoka, Japan, which is known as the mecca of pork bone-based ramen soup in 1966. After operating a single restaurant for nearly three decades, the company launched the new solo-dining concept in 1993. Now Ichiran boasts 75 locations in Japan, and six abroad in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the US with $230 million revenue in 2018.
The company’s first US shop opened in Brooklyn, New York in October 2016, followed by the location in Midtown Manhattan in March 2018, and the third and the biggest restaurant in Times Square in March 2019.
Iori Hanai, Public Relations Manager at Ichiran USA explains why Ichiran’s solo-dining concept is widely accepted. “In Japan, we have the culture to appreciate “ohitorisama” (a solo customer). As an ohitorisama, you don’t have to worry about not having companions and just enjoy the time to relax and taste delicious food by yourself. American diners seem to welcome the idea too.”
Prior to the opening of the first shop in the US, the company conducted an intense research through a members-only shop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to identify the local palate. It took nine years for them to offer “perfect” ramen bowls to American ramen fans.
“When we opened the first location, the media only featured the concept of solo dining. Now we find that people really appreciate the quality of ramen we have been painstakingly trying to deliver, thanks to our customers’ word-of-mouth promotion and posts on social media”, says Hanai.
Ichiran is planning to expand its operation to other US cities in the East and the West coasts. “Since all of our shops are directly operated, we need to secure the right staff who deeply understand our concept.”
The manager Hanai has been facing cultural challenges since the beginning. “In Japan ‘reading the air’ (understanding the situation without words) is the norm in the whole society, including our head office. Here you need to set goals and explain responsibility of each task and position. We first tried in the Japanese way, and if it did not work, we switched to the American way. After an intense period of trial and error, our staff began to find that, in order to achieve goals at Ichiran, it easier to adapt the Japanese way. It was a huge challenge to get there, and we should expect the same experience in new locations too.”
Regardless, a good bowl of ramen in a comfort of solo booth is precious.
